Four Seasons: The 65th Hunger Games
by SnowLucario
Summary: 24 tributes are reaped for the Hunger Games, which takes place in a beautiful archipelago. Each island represents one of the four seasons, but this is no five-star hotel, as things are going to be BRUTAL. Once a violent Bloodbath has occurred, tributes will fight for their lives until one becomes victor. I think you should read Labyrinth and Lorax before this. DISCONTINUED.
1. A Victor's Lament

**My goal for this story is 200 reviews. With that in mind, enjoy!**

* * *

 _I lived. No one else did. That makes me guilty._

This was the mindset that Paolina Guignard had been trying to shake for the last year.

Ever since she'd barely escaped the arena with her life, she'd played that moment with Brett over and over again, wondering if there was anything she could have done to stop it. Of course, had it not been her, it would have been him.

 _The Careers don't deserve it. It's a good thing I won._

But was it? After all, Paolina Guignard had made it through her whole Games without harming a single tribute, surely something that could grant her some brownie points with God, or Whoever was running the show up there. It had been pure dumb luck that she had survived.

As Paolina got dressed, she knew that today was going to be a day that she had dreaded for a long time. But she had no choice. As a victor from District 9, she had to mentor tributes from her district. That was just the way things went, and, more than anything, Paolina was scared of death. If you went against the Capitol as a victor, while they were unlikely to punish _you_ due to victors being granted special status over the rest of Panem, your family was in the firing line. No one could escape the Capitol's wrath.

 _Well, at least I'm not a hooker,_ she thought as she pulled on some panties.

The previous victor, Margaret Malachi, had become good friends with Paolina over the last year. She was still studying in college, though, and Paolina had nothing to do but draw, watch TV, and try to stay in shape. She wasn't going to turn to alcohol or morphling, because she viewed it as her moral responsibility to remember Brett, and Taysom... _Taysom..._

Taysom Resinworth of District 7 had volunteered to save his severely ill cousin. Paul, in spite of the best treatment his family could afford, had died, joining Taysom in whatever came after life. Paolina knew that she still had plenty to do here. She had to mentor these tributes, so that they could hopefully make it through their Games. Even though it would require the deaths of 23 others...

 _I can't do this,_ Paolina thought. _I just can't._

But the Reaping was about to begin, so she had to go to the town square. With one last look at her home in the Victor's Village (once she was properly dressed, of course), she tore down the street, arriving in the square just in time.

And, as the escort drew the first name, Paolina began to get very nervous for all of the potential tributes there. It gave her flashbacks to her own Reaping.

 _Well...let's make sure that we have another winner from Nine,_ she thought.

* * *

 **I elected to delete Underworld. It wasn't an easy decision, and I had said I wasn't doing another SYOT, but old habits die hard. Here is the form:**

Name:

Age:

District:

Gender:

Appearance:

Weapon of choice:

Strategy:

Suggested score:

Family:

Reaped/volunteered:

Background:

Personality:

Face claim:

Anything else:

 **Updates for this will be a little slower in coming. I was criticized before for updating too fast, but that won't be the case this time. I'm writing a Star Fox fic at the same time as this, which likely won't be finished for two months or more. Once I'm done with that, I'll write this much faster, especially once my school lets out for the summer. It's my sophomore year, and things are starting to count!**

 **I hope you will review this chapter, and enjoy Four Seasons: The 65th Hunger Games!**

 **EDIT 3/10/17- I have gone back and fixed up a mistake in this chapter. Thank you to St. Elmo's Fire for pointing that misspelling out. Also, I'm at 100 views already. YES!**


	2. Reapings Part I of III

**It's a short chapter, but I'd like to know what you think about it. I will respond to reviewers at the top of each chapter.**

 **Responses to reviewers:**

 **Birkaran (guest): Yes, you may. In fact, you already have.**

 **BirkaranDaSurvivorCraver: I'm glad it's more detailed this time. That was the main reason your tributes died early. Yeah, I did like writing Paolina again.**

 **BrokenMockingjay: All right! I'm looking forward to getting your tribute.**

 **Corvus Azrael Black: Well, you're about to find out.**

 **GreyWolf44: Looking forward to it as well!**

 **grimbutnotalways: We'll see how Paolina is as a mentor. If you read Lorax, that's the one Paolina won in. She basically just got really lucky.**

 **kgeesy: You gave me two, and, like I told you, that's the max. I really do like this arena.**

 **Singlewave: Yep, I'm back in the SYOT business all right!**

 **St. Elmo's Fire: I corrected that mistake. As for the hooker part, the Capitol does force you into prostitution as a victor if you're considered desirable. That's very much canon.**

 **One other note: Since its publication, this story has already been put in one community, SYOT Games. Just so you know, if you want to add my story to a community, the answer is _always_ yes. Any free publicity for me is very much welcome. **

**With that, let's get started on the first chapter of Reapings! Each chapter will feature four districts.**

* * *

 **District 1**

 _Swish!_

As Perseus swung his one-handed sword in the training room of District 1's Career Academy, careful not to behead his instructor on accident, he felt unstoppable. There was no way that these skills would not be enough for him to win the Games. He just had to do pretty well.

"You're doing great, Sei" Alec said. "With skills like this, you're going to be one of the top victors in Panem's history. I really do think that you're going to win".

"Thanks, Alec" Sei said. Even though Perseus was his legal name, he always went by Sei. He thought that it sounded deadlier, in a way. And that was the way Sei Black always wanted to portray himself. He was made to intimidate.

Sei had a little more practice with his sword, and allowed his instructor to give him some tips, grudgingly as always. He'd never been one to take orders, or even advice, from authority. He hoped that the way he'd swung his sword today would show that he was not someone to be crossed.

"You should probably get home, maybe take a shower" Alec said. "It's Reaping Day, after all, and it's your last year to volunteer. You don't want to fuck it up this year, do you?"

"No. And I want to make there be an actual victor this year. That pitiful girl from District 9...what was her name again? Pauline? Polly?"

"Paolina" said the instructor. "She won her Games in a different way, but that doesn't mean she didn't deserve to".

Sei walked out of the academy that day, thinking that he was going to show that Paolina's victory had only been an aberration, and that the next victor was going to be someone as ruthless as always. The District 9 girl's win had been very controversial, nearly causing a revolt in his district.

Of course, revolts always got put down. Especially in District 1, since they had it so good when compared to the other districts, there was really no reason to riot against the Peacekeepers, so no one's heart was really in it. How could it be, with so little to gain?

With that, Sei was ready for action. He knew only one thing above all, and that was that he _had_ to win. He needed to make all of his training over the last ten years count.

* * *

 _I'm all alone here. Just me and my knives. And I wouldn't have it any other way._

 _My name is Ebony Tartarus. I am seventeen years old, and today I am going to volunteer for the Hunger Games. This training is really nice, not having to do it at the academy, with all of those people who still have families._

 _It's not like I believe that their deaths were an accident. They "mysteriously disappeared" a few years ago. How could I buy that? The Peacekeepers are evil, and we're all just pawns in their system._

 _Ah, well. Nothing I can do about that other than win. Maybe from there I can start a rebellion or something against the Capitol. But right now, I just want to kill all of those other people._

This was Ebony's train of thought as she threw her knives at a cutting board that was on the wall of her house. She was in her house for one reason, and one reason only: Because she didn't really care for the Training Center too much. What she really wanted was to practice at home. She knew that she'd be a pretty good member of the Career pack, if she could only make sure to volunteer this year.

She didn't have any classmates competing for it, she just had to get in there and volunteer. She had to beat everyone else to it, or else she only had one more chance, when she'd be 18 next year. She didn't want to take that chance. She wanted to get it right the first time.

After getting her hair back in the proper way, or at least what she considered to be the correct way, she decided that she might as well head on over to the Reaping.

* * *

"Hey, Natalie!" Sei called.

Sei's fiancee looked at him with a happy expression on her face. "Hello, Sei. Last Reaping, and then we can get married!"

They clapped each other on the hands. In Panem, the marriageable age was eighteen, with the condition that you had to be out of your last Reaping before you could get hitched. Sei supposed that this was a good policy, even if it prevented Natalie from...ah, never mind.

"Just don't volunteer" Natalie said. Just then, Alec came over to join them in the section for 18-year-olds.

Natalie and Alec were twins, although they didn't act too alike. Natalie's hair was far lighter than her brother's, but they both had the same icy blue eyes. Since gay marriage had been recriminalized, Sei couldn't have married Alec even if he had wanted to.

Not that it mattered. Natalie was pretty awesome, and the two of them were scheduled to get married next month. Of course, Sei's fiancee didn't know that he intended to volunteer today. Had she known, Natalie would have done everything possible to get him not to do it.

After the usual film about the Dark Days was shown, and the escort gave the speech, the man, with his Reef hair (#CCFF99), dug his fingers inside the bowl for the girls. He was about to read the name...

"Ruby Topaz!" called the escort.

A small girl from Section 13 flinched at the sound of her name. However, she was quickly replaced by a volunteer.

"I volunteer as tribute!" called a very tall girl with blonde hair. The muscular female walked up to the stage to meet the escort.

"What's your name?" the escort asked her.

"Ebony Tartarus".

"Well, then, Ebony, sit tight and wait for us to call our male tribute".

Then, the escort took out a piece of paper from the bowl for the males. "Our male tribute is...Alec Thorn".

 **"No!"** Natalie gasped. Her brother had just been reaped. Of course, it didn't really matter, but still...

Sei seized his chance. "I volunteer as tribute!" he called, jogging up to the stage, pushing his way through the crowd.

"What's your name, young man?" the escort asked him.

"My name's Perseus Black" the boy said. "But you can call me Sei".

"Shake hands, tributes" the escort ordered.

Sei sized up Ebony. The way she was shaking his hand, it was like she intended to crush his fingers. He was all too relieved to be done with it and headed towards the Justice Building, where they would say their good-byes.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sei could see the face of his fiancee. She didn't look happy, but Sei had been planning this for years. He wasn't going to give up his shot at becoming victor now.

* * *

 **District 2**

Lance slept in, something that he was perfectly fine doing today. Surely he wouldn't lose all of his muscle just from one day of not practicing. He was going to be just fine at whatever it was, he knew that much.

The Armstrong family lived in a fairly large house, even bigger than the villa that Margaret Malachi had been living in prior to becoming victor. The 63rd victor, now twenty years old, was definitely a whole lot better than her successor. Lance wanted to be lethal.

Normally, Lance's parents would be out at work by now, since it was nearly nine in the morning. They were blacksmiths, and both of them worked, meaning that his family had a not insubstantial amount of money in the bank. However, since it was Reaping day, they didn't need to work. Neither did the children of District 2 have to go to school. Instead, everyone would be at the town square by one in the afternoon.

It was really just a formality, Lance thought. It wasn't like it mattered who was chosen, because there was almost always a volunteer to take the place of the reaped tribute.

 _I've got to avenge you, Noah..._

His elder brother, Noah, had died in the Hunger Games four years prior. They had had a very close relationship, with Noah often teaching Lance some of his skills with a sword. Of course, none of it could really last, since Noah went out to the Hunger Games.

Lance was full of nervous excitement. After all, this could go very well. He could go out there, volunteer, and become victor. He wasn't going to be one of those cocky Career boys. Not like Horatio from two years ago, or Garnet from last year. He couldn't join his brother. Not yet.

As soon as he went out of his house, in order to take a morning walk, he ran into a familiar young woman.

He would recognize that long, flowing black hair and those green eyes anywhere. It was Margaret Malachi, victor of the 63rd Hunger Games.

"Hey, Margaret!" Lance called. "I'm volunteering today, so you can expect me on the train with you...".

Margaret didn't respond. She seemed engrossed in a book that she was reading, even though she was on her morning constitutional. Lance wondered if that was dangerous, but he decided that if the victor wanted to read while she was walking, more power to her. Lance could appreciate studying as well, but now was not the time for it. He needed to go and win these Games.

* * *

Scarlett Slate was an orphan. That was why she was going into the Games.

She could understand why they would rather either adopt an older person (herself, age 17) or a younger person (her sister Blakely, age 6), than both. But that didn't mean she had to _like_ it. The way things were going, she knew that she would end up needing to provide for her and her sister when she was older.

"Are you leaving today, Scar?" Blakely asked her. They were eating breakfast in the community home's dining hall, since there was really nowhere else to do it. It wasn't as crowded as one might have expect, given that it was Reaping Day.

"Yes, I am, Blakely. But don't worry. I will be back in a few weeks, and then I'll see you again. Just take care of yourself".

When Blakely looked like she was about to complain, Scar talked back to her.

"You'll see me on TV. I'll be wearing a really cool outfit, in a chariot being pulled by beautiful white horses. You're going to like it".

Scar's little sister looked like she was mollified somewhat by this. As long as she was able to watch her sister on television, Blakely probably figured it was all good.

Of course, it wasn't as simple as that. She would rather not let Blakely know what she was going to see now. She was still six years old, and she didn't fully grasp the concept of death yet. She just knew that her parents weren't able to take care of her, and had no idea that they had both died in a car accident when she was one year old. Other than that, Blakely had been allowed to remain mostly ignorant and innocent.

In some ways, Scar thought that was a good thing. On the other hand, she knew that her sister would have to face the truth eventually. That was that death was permanent, and her parents had gone to where they could not be called back.

"And when I come back, we won't live here anymore, Blakely" Scar said. "We're going to live in a mansion".

"Mansion?"

"It means a big, fancy house" she explained.

Once they were done with their breakfast, it became time to head to the Reaping all too soon.

* * *

The Reaping was held in the central square of District 2. The escort this year was a squat woman with hair that was a shade of Cerulean (#057CC0). Really, that was a little excessive, Scar thought as she made her way apart from her sister into the section for girls who were 17 years old.

After the usual video about the Dark Days and the rest of the history of Panem, the escort dug her hand into the reaping bowl for the girls. Before the name could be read, however, Scar did what she needed to do.

"I volunteer as tribute!" she yelled as loudly as she could.

Pushing her way to the front of the crowd, she made it to the stage, right in front of Margaret Malachi, and stated her name.

"Scarlett Slate" she said clearly.

"All right. Scarlett! It's time for our male tribute now...".

"I volunteer as tribute!" came another voice.

Scar looked up just in time to see a tall, muscular boy race to the stage. This guy looked like he would be a lot of competition.

"And what is your name?" the escort asked the boy.

"Lance Armstrong!" he said, raising a hand and making a finger gun, striking a pose similar to Rawk Hawk from _Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door._

"Very well. Tributes, shake hands".

As Scar shook hands with Lance, she thought about just how hard it might be to overcome this guy.

* * *

 **District 3**

"Nice job, Jiro!"

Jiro, a sixteen-year-old boy from District 3, was having the time of his life flipping burgers and pancakes. His family ran a series of restaurants on the upper west side of District 3, meaning that his family didn't need to take out any tesserae. This was something that his parents were very much relieved about. And so, Jiro was able to go about his day without worrying about being reaped. Without worrying about being in the Hunger Games.

Of course, his parents didn't know that this was really the case. For Jiro had, for quite some time, aspired to become a victor of the Hunger Games. It was true that he had very significant talent in terms of cooking, but that was never, and had never been, his main goal in lie.

"Really, Jiro, you could head the family business one day!" his father, Malcolm, said.

Malcolm Clermont was a proud man, one for whom pride meant almost everything in the world. He was the head of the business currently, and this caused a rift between Jiro and his brother, Jasper, after the former had been selected by Malcolm to run the business.

To a certain extent, Jiro could see himself being a chef. He had quite a lot of talent in cooking, and it really did make sense for him to continue to be a chef. Of course, however, the Games had to come first. To that end, he wanted to train. He wanted to be the greatest.

"It's about time for the Reaping. I know that Clermont Steakhouse is going to have a lot of business tonight, but _not right now_ ". That was his mother, Sparta, talking. "Tens slips...that's all".

Jiro knew that his parents weren't going to be happy this evening, when they came and saw that he was going to volunteer. However, he was more than willing to take that risk. Because, as great as being a chef was, being a victor was even better.

And who said you couldn't be both?

* * *

Panna Sonic was not having the best day of her life.

She wasn't looking forward to the Reaping. She might only have 15 slips of paper in that bowl, and that paled in comparison to the total number of slips in the District 3 reaping bowl, but that didn't mean she was safe. The girl from her district had only had four slips, and she'd ended up dying by boiling in a vat of multicolored liquid.

She and her brother, Sony, were heading to the Reaping right on time. Since Sony was only eight years of age, he wasn't eligible to be reaped, but Panna knew that in only four short years' time, he would be. And then, he'd be vulnerable. Should Panna get reaped, he'd be even more so. They always liked having tributes who were younger siblings, children, or even _grandchildren_ of previous people who had won the Games, or, in the former case, died in the Games. All three of those scenarios had been known to happen.

"I wanna play soccer" Sony said out of nowhere.

"You can play soccer after the Reaping, Sony" Panna told her younger brother. "Right now, we have to see if I'm going to get chosen".

"Hey, Panna!" came a voice from a boy about her age.

Looking towards the source of the voice, Panna saw that it came from Buff, her scrawny friend. It wasn't her boyfriend, he was somewhere else in Section 14.

"Hello, Buff" she said. "Let's hope we're not chosen today. What do you want to do, have a slumber party afterwards?"

"Sounds great" said Buff. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We still might get chosen".

"Don't remind me" Panna replied.

Just then, the escort strutted onto the stage. For the technology district this year, it was a tall, middle-aged man with glasses and hair that was the color of Blue Diamond (#4F2A7A). He dug into the bowl for the girls and pulled out a name.

"Our female tribute is...Panna Sonic".

 _Fuck._

* * *

Panna was led onto the stage, something she wasn't happy about. Her bad day was about to get even worse, and even that Daniel Powter song wasn't going to cheer her up. She'd had a bad day, and she would need to live with it.

She could see her brother crying elsewhere, but her boyfriend, Sam Sung, was nowhere to be found. Probably, he had his head down, very unhappy with the results of the Reaping.

"Our male tribute is...Sam Wirefield".

"I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!" yelled a voice from the 16-year-old's section.

Panna watched as a very tall, very thin boy climbed onto the stage. Both teens looked at each other with unhappy expressions. The escort knew that this was going to be one awkward pairing come time for the tribute ball.

"Tributes, shake hands".

Panna shook hands with the boy, who said his name was Jiro Clermont. After that, they were taken towards the train station for the journey to the Capitol.

* * *

 **District 4**

He plunged the spear into the water again, and again, and again. Work was off today, so he wasn't helping his father with the fishing business. Rather, Sam Hatcher was practicing for the skills he was going to need.

All of the other skills he had might only get him to second place. Unfortunately, in the Hunger Games second place was no better than twenty-fourth. Ultimately, you just had to win.

Sam climbed out of the water, immediately deciding that he was going to go home for the Reaping. It didn't do to be late, because the Peacekeepers would not be happy about it. In District 4, one of the wealthiest districts of Panem, it never really made any sense to go against what the authorities said. You obeyed, because there was no reason not to.

He could have gone to the Career academy one more time before today, knowing that he could have used the practice. However, he had ultimately decided against it, due to the fact that he felt that one day of practice wasn't going to make that much difference.

He walked in the door, knowing that his parents were going to demand that he took a shower. No doubt he was smelling of fish guts, since that was generally what the harbors of District 4 smelled like. He would need to look, and smell, presentable for when he volunteered for the Hunger Games.

* * *

"I'm doing this for you, Mom" Jenny said, knifing a dummy at the Career training academy in District 4. She knew that it would pay to get as much practice as she could, and it really did help to remember _why_ she was doing this.

Her mother wasn't at the academy with her. Shelly Winters was a very sick woman. A very sick woman indeed, having been diagnosed with breast cancer six years ago. It was treatable, but the Winterses weren't the richest family in District 4, so chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery could be hard to afford.

She was hanging on so far, but Jenny wanted things to be more secure. She believed in her mother's ability to survive this disease with the help of treatment. And today was Reaping day.

It was true that she could have been better prepared, but for all she knew her mother could be dead next year, or the year after that. Instead of being 18, the most ideal age to win the Games, she was only 16.

As she headed to the 16-year-old section of the town square, she was only too aware of that fact. The possible pool of 18-year-olds all looked pretty formidable, more so than she wanted to admit to anyone.

The escort, a woman with Shamrock hair (#2CCA8A), gave the usual spiel about the Dark Days before pulling out a name.

"I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!" Jenny shouted, before stepping up to the stage.

Then, the escort drew out a male name. "Sam Hatcher!"

"I got this" said the boy who was identified as Sam. He was fairly tall, with black hair and green eyes. Jenny had seen him around sometimes. He could usually be found spear fishing in the harbor, probably practicing for the Games.

The two of them shook hands, after Jenny had introduced herself. Then, they all got ready to take the trip to the Capitol.

* * *

 **I am sorry if the District 4 Reaping seemed rushed, but there's a good reason for that. I was rushed, since my flight was about to board.**


	3. Reapings Part II of III

**Another fast update! Don't know how long these are going to last, so enjoy it while you can! Also, we've reached 20 reviews, and I could see this being around 25 chapters. My goal is 200 reviews by the end of the story, so let's see if we can meet it!**

 **I've reached half a million words now, a HUGE milestone for me!**

 **Responses to reviewers:**

 **Alexandria160: Thank you for the compliment. I'm going to do everything I can to make this a great SYOT.**

 **BrokenMockingjay: Updates won't be as fast for a while, just because this isn't my only story. Sorry about that, but I think you might enjoy the Wing And A Scare trilogy.**

 **Corvus Azrael Black: Yeah, you can thank my little sister for that. She dictated the tribute for me when we were both at our NYC hotel on Sunday, and we were both cracking up the whole time.**

 **goldie031: Thanks for your assessments.**

 **GreyWolf44: I like all of those tributes, and thanks for the compliment about the fast updates. They'll get slower, but thank you!**

 **Kgeesy: I'll cover whatever I missed in the goodbyes. You'll find out more about Jiro then. Thanks for supporting this story thus far!**

 **luka1103: I'll do my best. I'm already writing another story at the same time as this. But I do intend to finish this, because I'm looking forward to my arena. A description and map can be found on my DeviantArt.**

 **N1ghtCat: Thanks for the fave, thanks for the thoughts on the tributes. I was actually on the plane from La Guardia, then landed at Logan and saw all of the messages in my inbox. That was pretty awesome.**

 **Singlewave: Yep, they call me Lightning L-Man for a reason. (My real name starts with an L).**

 **St. Elmo's Fire: I'll work on formatting dialogue. Thanks.**

 **Yogy2404: Glad you're enjoying it. It warmed my heart when you told me that you and your son read Labyrinth and Lorax together!**

* * *

 **District 5**

"Cheers, Vida" Tesla said, clinking his glass against his girlfriend's.

You wouldn't think that Tesla Mason could get away with drinking. He was only 17, after all, and the drinking age in Panem was 21, just like it had been in the old United States. However, since his father was a Peacekeeper, he could get away with just about anything that wasn't treasonous against the country.

"You really should go home, Tesla" Vida said. "It's Reaping day, after all, and it doesn't do to be late. You know this".

Even though Tesla loved his girlfriend, he was often jealous of her. Vida was nineteen years old, meaning that she was no longer eligible to be in the Hunger Games. She'd survived all the way to adulthood, and Tesla was still on the bubble for that. Of course, it wasn't her fault that Tesla was considered one of the rowdiest boys in District 5.

Following his girlfriend's recommendations, he left the pub in the Green Light District of District 5, called that because of all of the signs over the Irish-style pubs. He knew the way home, which was a good thing. Due to his underage drinking, he had a relatively high tolerance for alcohol, but he was by no means immune to it.

 _If I'm reaped, I'm screwed. The Capitol would never let me win._

Tesla was literally bargaining with God not to allow him to get reaped for the Hunger Games as he stepped over the threshold of the door.

"Oh, there you are" said Tesla's father. "It's almost time to go to the Reaping, and you don't look presentable. You've dripped beer all over your shirt. Get changed, get a shower, and then go to the Reaping".

Tesla wasn't surprised that his father was being strict about this. Antonius Mason was, after all, one of the top Peacekeepers in the power district, and the fact was that he didn't show too much emotion. In order to get his son in line, he threatened to send him to District 2 to be a Peacekeeper himself once he was of age and free from the Reaping.

Getting in the shower, Tesla scrubbed off while singing "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke. It was a naughty song for a naughty boy, and he couldn't wait for this day to be over. Then, there would only be one more year. Since he didn't have to take out any tesserae, there were only six slips of paper with the name "Tesla Mason" on them.

 _Let's hope that's little enough for them not to call my name,_ he thought.

* * *

Kidra woke up in the room she'd been sleeping in. The man next to her was still passed out, not surprisingly. The men she served were _always_ inebriated. That was just the way it went.

She supposed that she was good-looking, beautiful even, but the fact remained that the men who were typically attracted to prostitutes were...not the type you'd expect to stay sober, let's put it that way.

Making sure that she had the money the man had paid for her company, she left quietly so as not to wake the man from his drunken sleep. Then, it was on to the next house.

This was the way she'd made money ever since becoming a street urchin. Her parents were both dead, and she had no siblings or grandparents to take care of her. She didn't necessarily want to live like a princess, but the factory jobs, as well as petty theft, had never been enough for her. She needed more money, and so she'd become a prostitute at the age of sixteen. She couldn't take out any tesserae, since she was always moving around.

This year, her name would be in the reaping bowl seven times. She had a plan, always, just in case she was ever reaped. Maybe it would be time to put it into action this year, maybe not. She desperately hoped not, but at the same time, it might be better for the districts in the long term if she did end up in the Games. Reason being, she'd be the focus of all of the cameras, and the viewers in both the Capitol and the districts.

While there might not be a revolt in the Capitol, she might be able to ignite something in the outer districts. It wasn't impossible. And, were she to become victor, she'd have whatever she needed for the rest of her life. She suspected, however, that the Capitol would not want someone who was _already_ a hooker to become a victor.

Because Kidra had heard, on the streets, that if you became a victor, and you were considered desirable, Snow would sell your body to the highest bidder. In fact, this was what was happening to the beautiful Margaret Malachi right now.

 _I won't get reaped,_ Kidra thought. _Just seven slips. Plenty of people have more._

But she still had a sinking feeling, down in her stomach, that something was going to go wrong.

* * *

Tesla arrived at the reaping just in time, with lyrics still in his head. He was ready to get this thing over with. After bidding good-bye to his younger brother and sister, Telkes and Edison (ages 13 and 9, respectively), he made his way into Section 17.

The escort for this district was a young man with Black Pearl (#192023) hair. At least _this_ was a realistic color that could be found on a human being. He gave the usual speech about the Dark Days, and he showed the educational video. Then, he dug his hand into the bowl for the girls, which the Mason family had nothing to worry about with this year.

"Our female tribute is...Kidra Silvery".

From the section for 18-year-old girls, a gorgeous, skinny girl with long, flowing blonde hair sighed. She came walking up to the stage and stood next to the escort.

 _It had better not be me,_ Tesla thought. _God, I'll stop drinking and stealing if you don't reap me this year._

Of course, he said this every year, and he never did keep his promise to the big man upstairs. He resolved himself to do it each time, but he always went out to drink afterwards to celebrate. Then, it started all over again.

"Tesla Mason!"

And, just like that, Tesla's future as a Peacekeeper collapsed into nothing.

* * *

Tesla shook hands with the District 5 girl, and then the escort told them to make their way to the train station. He tried to avoid his district partner's eyes, knowing that both of them would most likely be dead within the next month.

 _Well, there's no way I'm going to win,_ he thought.

* * *

 **District 6**

 _At least I'll be prepared if I am reaped,_ Cassia thought.

Her father, for everything that you could consider wrong with him, had one thing going in his favor. Apollo Haydn was a Hunger Games victor, the winner of the 32nd Games. Cassia could only hope that he wasn't too rusty, or else that would be a problem.

"It's not that bad, Cassia" Apollo said. "You only have three names in the bowl this year. No tesserae".

Owing to her father's victor status, the Haydns were much wealthier than most of the other families in District 6. They could afford pretty much whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. However, in order to prepare for the possibility that one of his children would be reaped, Mr. Haydn spent the mornings before Reapings teaching his children how to prepare for the Hunger Games.

Normally, since theirs was the most populous district, any individual child, particularly a wealthy one, would have an extremely low chance of being reaped. But this wasn't an ordinary child. Cassia Haydn was the son of a victor.

"Don't victor's children get reaped more often? The Capitol loves to talk about how the odds aren't in that family's favor" Cassia said.

"Again, you probably won't get reaped. So stop worrying about it".

Cassia strongly suspected that her father didn't believe his own words. Her older brother, Phoenix, had been reaped for the Hunger Games three years before, at the age of seventeen. Owing to his father's training, Phoenix had made it decently far into the Games, only to be unable to overcome his final opponent. As such, Cassia had become a social outcast, with everyone in the streets whispering about how she was next in line for the Hunger Games.

She could only hope that their predictions would turn out to be wrong.

* * *

Bretson ran to meet his girlfriend at the Reaping. It was about to start, and he didn't want to be late.

"Hello, Annabelle!" he said excitedly. "It's our last Reaping, aren't you excited?"

"Still nervous. After all, I've got kind of a big family, and I have 42 entries in the Reaping bowl this year. I really hope that it's not you, either".

"Wouldn't that be the _worst_ ", Bretson said, trying not to laugh at just how tragic this possibility was, "if we were both reaped? That would really add a lot of extra drama, wouldn't it?"

"Don't make me think about that" Annabelle said. "Not only would _I_ die, but the baby...".

Bretson knew just what she was talking about. They were whispering, because they didn't want people to know that Annabelle was pregnant with their out-of-wedlock child. Since it was only five weeks into the pregnancy, it wasn't obvious to the outside world yet that there was another life inside of her. It was only a matter of time, though.

"You're a great wrestler" she said. "If you end up in the arena, I'm betting on you. At least, I would if I had any money to bet _with"._

Bretson's girlfriend of five years had two younger brothers, both of whom were also eligible for the Reaping. The odds were not in her family's favor, considering that they were lower-class by District 6 standards.

Just then, the escort, a tall woman with Harley Davidson Orange (#E03500) hair began her speech about the Dark Days, about how they must never be repeated, blah blah blah.

 _Please don't let it be Annabelle,_ Bretson prayed. _Don't be Annabelle._

"Cassia Caelina Haydn!"

 _Phew._

A girl from Section 14 came walking up to the stage, with her head held low. There were whispers all around her, and Bretson remembered that Apollo Haydn had won a previous Hunger Games. Children of victors being reaped wasn't an uncommon occurrence.

"Our male tribute is Bretson Muller".

Bretson's heart dropped. He'd never thought that he would ever be reaped. That wasn't a possibility he had even given serious consideration. Getting reaped always seemed to be something that happened to somebody else.

But, as he ascended the stairs to the stage, he thought, _I suppose we're all "someone else" to someone else._

* * *

 **District 7**

"Why don't you just divorce him, Mom?" Heather asked her mother.

"You know I can't just do that. It's like...I need to live with him, or else we'd need to take out tesserae, and I'm not doing that. I'm not _letting_ you do that. I'm glad you only have six names in the bowl".

Heather knew that this should be good news. However, it was hard for her to feel happy about that when she knew that her parents were always fighting. They always seemed that they would be happier apart, but they still stayed together, for reasons she couldn't fathom.

Hanna Aspen was a good person. But she was forced to stay in this bad marriage, with a man who had made her take a job she hated, that being a lumberjack. Would divorce not be easier?

"Besides, I'm not lying, I don't like that man very much at all. It's just that alimony isn't going to cut it. Even if I hate his guts, I get that he'd want to spend some time with you".

 _No, he wouldn't,_ Heather thought.

Elm Aspen was a lumberjack who was often not at home. He worked long hours at the lumber yard, but that wasn't the only thing he was doing. Heather knew that her father was going out at times he really shouldn't have been, to the point that she suspected him to be having an affair.

"Mom, he's cheating on you. And you know that he doesn't love me".

"I'm sure he does, he just has a tough time showing it sometimes".

Heather loved her mother a lot more than her father, that was for sure, but she didn't want to get caught in this stupid argument. "It's time for the Reaping. He'll already be there, you know how he is" she said.

Without another word, they put on their jackets, as District 7, being far to the north, was not a place that had hot summers. Then, they headed to the Reaping.

* * *

"I think you could be a great victor, Fennal" Cedar Undergrove said. "For real. Just make sure that you've trained hard once you're in the Capitol".

"I will, Dad" Fennal said. He was ready for whatever came his way in the Hunger Games. After all, he'd been training for it for a while. District 7 didn't have a Career academy, but when your mother was a victor, you really did want another chance for even more glory. Or, at least, you pretended like you did.

Fennal practiced with his throwing axes at a target his father had set up. After all, it was very important that he train if he wanted to win. The boy, who was half-Caucasian and half-Asian, looked at his reflection in the glass panes of the window of his house.

"Very well" Cedar said. "I'll just talk to your mother, and you head on off to the Reaping".

Fennal didn't see anything better to do than obey his father. After leaving the Victor's Village of District 7 behind, he made his way towards the town square.

* * *

Heather had arrived at the Reaping just in time. After having her blood taken for identification, she stood in the section for 17-year-old girls, anxiously waiting for the escort (young woman, Indigo hair, #49008F) to finish her spiel on the Dark Days. It wasn't something she hadn't heard what felt like a million times before, and it really did get old fast. She just wanted the whole day to be over.

"Our female tribute is...Heather Aspen".

Heather's heart started pounding. She didn't want to go to the stage, but she had no choice. She'd rather die an honorable death in the Hunger Games than die shamefully at the hands of the Peacekeepers, who would make sure that she made it to the stage.

After ascending the steps, the escort proceeded to read the male tribute's name. Before she could do so, however, a voice came from Section 16.

" _I volunteer as tribute!_ "

A tall, skinny boy who appeared to be at least partly Asian was walking up the steps. He was wearing a very smug expression on his face, much like any Career from 1, 2, or 4.

 _He must be insane._

It was very rare to have Career tributes from outer districts. The last one, Miri of District 8, had died in the Bloodbath, being seen as far too big of a target. The last District 7 male _had_ been a volunteer, but Taysom Resinworth had only been saving his cousin, not making a statement on being a Career tribute.

Like Taysom and his cousin, Heather suspected that both she and her district partner were going to be dead in the next month.

* * *

 **District 8**

Warp didn't like the Reaping.

It wasn't just that there was a slight chance he could be chosen to fight to the death on live television. He also didn't like crowds in general.

Being so small, skinny, and timid, he knew that he would have next to no chance in the Hunger Games. He also hated being in the spotlight, always relying on his brother to do these things for him. Now, however, he had no real choice.

"Are you ready to go to the Reaping, Warp?" his father asked him.

Warp gulped. He was pretty nervous for this, because of everything about crowds and such. Plus, he had 25 entries in the reaping bowl this year. The odds of him being chosen were immense compared to some others.

"Yes" he said.

* * *

Bobbin was nervous. It was her first Reaping, after all.

"Don't worry about the taking of the blood" her father told her. "It'll only hurt for a moment. And you're not going to get chosen".

"How do you know that?" she asked. "You're not God".

"Yes. But I would say that the odds are very much against it, since you only have three names in that bowl".

Her father was hugging her a lot, but for good reason. Bobbin's dad was overprotective of her, ever since her mother had died in childbirth, with her brother dying just a few days later. When your daughter is all you have left, she becomes far more important to your life.

"We'll celebrate after it's all over" Jute Taper said, her father, said. "I'll even order pizza. Does that sound good?"

Bobbin nodded. That was all that could make her stop herself from crying as the blood was taken from her arm.

The escort, an obese man with Kelly Green hair (#4AAC1B) talked about the Dark Days once again. Then, he reached his hand into the bowl and pulled out a slip of paper.

"Bobbin Taper" he said.

Bobbin was in shock. She'd been worried about being reaped, but now it was actually happening. She timidly made her way up to the stage.

"Our male tribute is Warp Bobbin" the escort said loudly.

 _Huh. My first name is his last name. Cool._

She tried to dwell on that, rather than her impending doom. Of course, it didn't necessarily work out that way.

The small, skinny boy staggering up to the stage looked, if anything, more nervous than Bobbin. He had an expression on his face like a puppy dog who just wanted to be put to sleep, put out of its misery.

The Capitol really was cruel.

* * *

 **A short chapter to be sure, but I wrote this all in one day. Just so you know, I don't edit my stories in general. I post the raw product.**

 **Also, I'm at 400 views by now. And 10 favorites? Guys, you are the BEST. Every favorite, follow, and review is very much appreciated.**

 **Okay, that's it. I'm about to go play some Mario And Luigi: Dream Team and see how popular this gets.**


	4. Reapings Part III of III

**Happy Saint Patrick's Day! I'm an eighth Irish (full breakdown is 12.5% Irish, 12.5% French Canadian, 25% English, 25% Dutch, and 25% German), and we bought cookies and frosting in the shape of shamrocks. Also, I've got my Bloodbath tributes, a tentative boot order, and yes, even a victor. It's...aw, I'm not telling! Nothing in the world will get me to change my victor. No reviews or polls will get you anywhere.**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry it was up a bit later than usual, I've just been busy with my IEP meeting. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically how my last two years of high school will work out, because I am a special needs student. That's pretty much enough of that.**

 **After this, we are done with the Reapings. If Acacia's segment seemed weird, well, I've never had morphine, which I suppose is the real-life equivalent of morphling. I've never had any serious health issues in my life, except viral meningitis as a baby. So I had to put myself into the mind of a drug addict. Not easy.**

 **Sorry this is a short chapter, but I just wanted to get the Reapings done. My last few districts are typically the ones I put the least effort into, since I just want to finish them.**

* * *

 **District 9**

Acacia was high, but then again Acacia Cooper was _always_ high. She was always tripping on morphling, ever since her mother had been diagnosed with cancer years before. And today was no exception.

Looking out at the cornfields, which was standard fare for District 9, everything seemed to be covered in a purple haze. Acacia wasn't sure if this was a heat haze, because it seemed like a pretty hot day. But she was used to this. It was just one of the things that came with taking morphling.

Everyone else seemed worried for some reason. They were talking about...the _Reaping?_ What was that again?

Acacia wasn't worried. She was high as a kite. She felt detached, in a way...why was everyone so frightened?

 _Oh, well,_ she thought. _It's none of my concern._

* * *

 _Fuck you, Dad._

Ollie wasn't happy at his father. One night in bed with his girlfriend had resulted in her becoming President...and he'd been kicked out of the house. This had happened two and a half years ago, and now Ollie was an eighteen-year-old father of two. Luckily, he didn't live in the Wheatlands. That section of District 9 had gotten better since the burnings had stopped, but that didn't change the fact that he and his girlfriend were now living underneath a small awning.

Being homeless in District 9 wasn't the best thing ever. Even if you didn't have a home, you were still accounted for, meaning that you were stuck in the whole system of the Reaping, and tesserae. That was just the way it went.

Not only that, but Ollie had to take out tesserae for seven people, including his estranged parents. As a result, he was at risk this year, considering that Nine was one of the smallest districts. His name was in that bowl 56 times.

"Are you worried about today?" Fey, whose legal name was Felicity, asked him.

"Not really" Ollie said. "It's my last year, and after that it's just me and you".

Of course, it wasn't that simple. Fey, his girlfriend and mother of his two children, was still eligible for the Reaping once more after this, due to being a year younger than Ollie. One mistake had resulted in their life being changed so much.

 _But,_ Ollie reminded himself, _it's better this way. My parents never did love me, if they'd disown me for getting her pregnant. Now, I know who really cares about me. I wouldn't have it any other way._

* * *

At the reaping, Acacia was confused. But she was alone. She had no friends, which was okay with her, since all she needed was morphling. Really, that was her best friend.

The escort, a tall and thin man with Jungle Green (#29AB87) hair ascended the stage and gave the usual speech about the Dark Days, about how they must never be repeated, blah blah blah. Then, he stuck his hand in the bowl and pulled out a name.

"Our female tribute is...Acacia Cooper".

 _That's me, right? I should be going up to the stage?_

Everything felt detached, somehow, as Acacia made her way up to the stage, not very steadily. She did feel a little self-conscious when she saw that everyone was staring at her, skinny and yellow-faced as she was.

"Our male tribute is...Olivier Maddox Roman".

A tall, muscular boy with golden brown hair came striding up to the stage. Despite his size, he looked pretty nervous to Acacia. They shook hands before going off to the train station.

* * *

 **District 10**

"It's Reaping Day, Ty. Are you nervous?"

Neo's younger brother was always paranoid about getting reaped. Even if they took out tesserae, it wasn't the highest chance of being chosen. Tyler was 15 as opposed to Neo, who was 18 years of age.

The brothers lived alone in their home in the urban part of District 10, also known as the Stockyard. As such, the stench of rotting meat was present all throughout the town. The reason they lived alone? It was very simple.

Three years before, when Neo was fifteen and Tyler was twelve, his parents had both died. They'd said it was a slaughterhouse accident, but it was very suspicious that the boys hadn't been allowed to see the bodies. But their parents hadn't been too politically active, and that was usually the type of people who died in "accidents". Maybe it really _had_ been an accident.

At a certain point, you learned to accept your lot in life, here in the third-poorest district of Panem. There wasn't a whole lot else you could do.

Of course, they had each other. The death of their parents, whether it had been President Snow's doing or really an accident, had at least brought the brothers closer together. As such, they could usually pick up on each other's emotions.

"Yeah, I really don't want to get chosen. It's not going to be easy for me to win. I just wish we didn't have to take out tesserae".

Neo had a job butchering meat, and he'd had to double down on it, going from part-time to full-time when his parents had died. Because of this, he'd had to drop out of school, and since his job only offered fairly low pay, he was pretty much putting the burden of making money on his brother. He felt pretty bad about that, but maybe if he became victor, he'd be able to buy their way out of the Stockyard...

 _No. I can't think that way._

* * *

"John, I think I can beat you in a horse race!"

"I'm not sure about that" John said, sneering at her.

Of course, Bonnie and her brother had constantly been trying to outdo each other since either of them could remember. Old habits died hard, as proven by the fact that Bonnie was now eighteen, in her final year of eligibility for the Reaping, and her brother was three years older.

 _The Reaping._

"Bonnie, it's Reaping day. I know that we're focused on this right now, but you know that it doesn't do to be late. We'd better get there, everyone has to attend. Glad you don't have any tesserae".

Seven entries this year...luckily, their family needed no extra financial assistance. This was a great help, considering that the poor got the worst of the Reaping system. It wasn't the fairest way to do things in Panem. She'd heard of Communist states, but this was different, but similar in a way.

The basic idea of Communism is that everyone gets the same amount of money, or near enough. But this was something entirely different, where there was really no way to go up or down on the economic ladder. You'd just stay where you were.

"Let's get going there" she said.

* * *

As Bonnie reached the central square of District 10, she met up with some of her friends.

"Hey, Sully" she said to one of her many girl friends.

"Do you want to go to a party tonight? After the Reaping, to celebrate that we've been spared for another year?"

"Sure thing" Bonnie said. She was arguably a bad influence on Sully, just because she'd given her drinks and taught her how to use firearms. Even so, they had a pretty good friendship.

The escort walked up to the stage. It was a young woman with Vivid Violet (#844184) hair, and she gave the usual speech about the Dark Days.

"Ladies first!" she shouted with her usual enthusiasm. She dug her hand into the bowl.

 _Please don't be me, or Sully. Don't be either of us. Don't_ let _it be either of us, God. I know we've never believed in you, but still...is it too much to ask?_

"Bonnie McFulton!"

 _Well, this day sucks,_ she thought.

Bonnie tried to keep her head held high as she made her way up to the stage. It was hard to when, inwardly, you felt like sinking through the ground. She liked going to parties and all, but she wasn't used to having all eyes be on her. That was just something that was outside of her comfort zone. Unfortunately, that was what was happening.

"Our male tribute is...Neo Falco!"

A tall, skinny boy with a small mustache and beard ascended the stage, and Bonnie was instantly afraid of him. If this was what her district partner looked like, she didn't want to see what the Careers looked like.

Once that was over, both of them headed for the train that would take them up to the Capitol.

* * *

 **District 11**

 _I've been here near forever, countless years of blinding gray. My name? A ray of sunshine. My district? Two ones that still don't equal two._

 _Have I introduced myself? My name's Rey Genger, and I live in this wide southern area. Fruit trees, everywhere._

 _I used to have a mother. I don't. I don't really remember her. I remember her singing. So nice and soft. She sang to me about things. Something. Her Ray of sun to keep her from the dark. She's gone. Gone deep underground. Never coming back. Nobody, comes back from the ground. Not even when I dig them up. Gone. Always._

 _I have never been normal. No, not average. Anti-social. Psychotic. Medicine that no one can afford. The clarity that I had was getting increasingly difficult to hold onto. Onto another child then? The first one didn't work so they needed a replacement. Love drained from me... I killed them. I hate this. These moments. I'm not always... Like that. I have these moments, where I realize who I am and what I've done, where I am. When I'm like this, I remember. I remember the anger, killing them, and I hate myself until I. Until I go again. PTSD, and psychosis make a hell of a combo. Killing me slowly by making me live in this hellscape of a mind. They don't spend money on meds for manacled men. (Also, if your looking for the reason he went crazy. It was because of his sister. He didn't mean to kill her. She just got all of the attention. He was jealous so he beat her and because he was young at the time he accidentally killed her. When his mother came in and discovered it he killed her too. With a knife because he didn't want to be in trouble. Later he tricked his father into going up to see the bodies and killed him while he was distracted. Killing them all coupled with years in a mental asylum has driven him into some sort of psychosis driven by post traumatic stress and helped along by crushing loneliness. So yeah._

* * *

"Do you need help getting to the Reaping, Gram?" Juliana asked the elderly woman.

"It's fine, Jules. I'm only 67, after all. I can still work in the cherry fields, so of _course_ I can make it to the Reaping. Come on, it's time to go".

Juliana's grandmother had raised her and her brother, along with her father, because their mother had died early enough that Juliana didn't remember her.

They headed out of the orchards, which were near where they lived. The town part of District 11, one of the most heavily policed districts due to the importance of growing food, was where most of the small middle class lived. On days like this, Juliana wished they were middle class. Her older brother, Clive, was nineteen and thus safe from the Reaping for good, but Juliana had 20 names in that bowl. It could have been worse; when so many kids had to take tesserae, the extra slips of paper in the reaping bowl didn't matter as much.

The town square was surrounded by shabby buildings, overgrown with kudzu vines. There was still time to mill around during the reaping, so Juliana looked for her best friend.

Yes...there he was. Tall, with even darker skin than her and long, black hair. Lucas Copperway.

"Hey, Lucas!" she called to her friend.

Lucas turned to look at her. His dark eyes looked warm and friendly on this occasion. He was also 15, but since they were of opposite genders, they had to stand in different sections for the Reaping.

"Do you want to hang out at my place tonight?" Lucas asked her. The Copperways were part of the middle class, and Lucas was pretty outgoing. He often invited others from the agricultural district to have slumber parties at his home.

"Sure. Assuming I don't get chosen". _And you don't either._

The escort, an elderly, stern bespectacled woman with naturally whitening blonde hair, ascended the stage. After giving the usual speech about the Dark Days, she drew a name from the pink bowl meant for females.

 _Don't be me. Don't be me._

"Juliana Elle Skythorne!"

 _No...why? WHY?_

Juliana had no alternative but to make her way up to the stage. After meeting the escort up there, it was time for the male tribute to be reaped.

 _Don't be Lucas. Please don't let it be Lucas._

"I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!"

Juliana was glad that the volunteer clearly wasn't Lucas, his skin was far too pale for that, but he must have been insane. Her district rarely had volunteers, because it was considered tantamount to suicide.

"What might your name be? It's so rare that we have a volunteer from District 11".

The gaunt boy said, "My name's Rey Genger. And I couldn't take it anymore".

"Very well, then" the escort said. "Tributes, shake hands".

They did. Then, it was time to head to the train station.

* * *

 **District 12**

Darros's family was wealthy, due to the fact that they owned some of the coal mines in the district. Because of this, they were more fortunate than many of the other families in District 12.

"Really, stop hitting me!" his sister yelled at him.

Darros continued to hit his sister, just for fun. He didn't know why he liked to do this, he just did. Plus, his sister was mentally challenged, so he figured that she deserved it.

Even though Darros hated females, he showed more respect, or you could say cowardice, to males. Nobody really knew why, but it was Reaping day today, so he supposed that people were going to see him again. Just five names in the bowl this year...he was going to see what happened.

* * *

"The restaurant's closed this morning" Annabeth told the people standing outside. "Sorry, it's Reaping day".

Grumbling, the people of District 12 left. It really wasn't a surprise that they weren't happy about it. Annabeth Royceson and her family owned a popular restaurant in the merchant section of the district. Had they lived in the Seam, they would have had a lot more to worry about.

She was only thirteen, so she didn't have too high a probability of being reaped. Still, though, she was scared, considering that it was only her second Reaping. It wasn't a pleasant thought by any means.

They walked to the square, and Annabeth and her family took their spots. She was in Section 13F, the one for girls of her age.

The escort, a young man with Royal Blue hair (#345EFD) took to the stage. After the usual speech about the Dark Days, Annabeth prayed she wouldn't get picked. But, not for the first time, God did not seem to be on her side today.

"Annabeth Royceson!"

 _Come on._

She'd never thought she would be reaped, considering there were only two slips of paper out of many thousands. Of course, it had to be someone.

After making her way to the stage, the escort called out "Darros Ashmore!"

A skinny black boy came up to the stage. Darros Ashmore was instantly recognizable due to the fact that his family was unpopular. The reason for this was that his family owned several of the mines in operation in the district, meaning that they were even above the merchant class. He was also well-known for his misogynistic habits.

"Tributes, shake hands".

Annabeth could tell, right away, that she hated Darros. Of course, she'd need allies to survive the Games, but there was the fact that Darros seemed unlikely to want to align with her.

In short, she was fucked.

* * *

 **All three of the D12 girls so far (Madi, Jessie, and Annabeth) have been wealthy. I don't think that's a coincidence.**

 **For Rey's Reaping segment, I literally copied and pasted from the PM I received. It was written in first person, so that's kind of unique. At a certain point, I will have to put myself in the mindset of someone with more mental health issues than just Asperger's.**

 **Anything missed in terms of family or friends during the Reapings will most likely be covered in the Good-byes, which might take a while due to it being almost certainly the longest chapter yet in the story. If you follow me or the story, you will receive an e-mail notification when it comes out.**

 **One last thing to note is that I'm putting up a favorite character form.**


	5. Bye Bye Bye

**This is the longest chapter yet of Four Seasons, but not by that much. No surprise really, since it has all 24 tributes in it.**

 **In case you're wondering, my system is that for the Reapings, they go alphabetically by last name. Here, it's alphabetical by first name. I'm hoping that you will review this chapter, to offset the fact that I got a lower-than-expected amount of them for the last chapter. A quick reminder: I'm going for 200 total by the end of this story. And so far, we're still on track.**

 **Also, in the Reapings I made the embarrassing mistake of saying that Telkes was Tesla's brother. Telkes is Tesla's SISTER, Edison is his brother. Just clearing that up. This story doesn't need as many contradictions as the Bible.**

 **One last thing: I've started a new side project, I Would Write 500 Games And I Would Write 500 More. Similar concept to tracelynn's 500 Years Of Penance, so if you like that story you might like this one, although the next update won't be for a while. I'm writing Wing And A Scare Book III at the same time as this.**

* * *

 **District 1**

Ebony didn't have anyone visit her. She did have quite a few thoughts, however. She was constantly wondering just what the Hunger Games were going to be like as a tribute. Of course, like everyone else in the districts, she'd been a regular viewer of the Hunger Games since before she could remember. But it was no doubt very different when you were actually _in_ them.

After a few minutes in there, the Peacekeepers came, telling her that it was time to go.

* * *

Sei, on the other hand, had visitors.

"You can win, Percy" said his younger sister, Andi. "I wish you didn't have to volunteer, though!"

"I know, Andi" Sei told his younger sister. "But I have to do this. You'll understand when you're older, but this family is going to get a _lot_ of glory once I come back having won".

"I'm twelve. I already understand!"

"Whatever" the tribute said. "Bring in Natalie and Alec".

Andi left, making way for Sei's fiancee and best friend respectively.

"Thanks for volunteering for me, Sei" Alec said. "I really owe you one".

Natalie, on the other hand, was not happy that her betrothed had just volunteered for the Hunger Games. She looked at Sei with a very angry expression, as if she wished to murder him were he not a tribute. She told him that they were breaking off the engagement in case he came back.

 _Whatever,_ Sei thought. _She wasn't right for me anyway._

"I was just kidding, Sei" she said, breaking down in tears. "Please. Come back and win!"

His uncle, Daemon, was also there. He was angry at Sei for volunteering, but told him that he still loved him all the same.

Sei had a hard time defining how he felt about the joke Natalie had made, and he was all too happy when the Peacekeepers came for him.

* * *

 **District 2**

"You have to win, Lance" his parents told them.

Lance felt that he was more ready for the Games than he had ever been in his life. He really did think that he could win, and there was no way that he was going to allow any of the outer district tributes beat him.

He wasn't cocky, though. He understood that his fellow Careers did still pose a threat to him, and that they would need to be eliminated when the time came for that.

"I'm going to do it" Lance told them. "When I come back, it'll be to a far richer Armstrong family. We are going to make District 2 great again, because it's been far too long since someone from our district won!"

"What about Margaret?" Mrs. Armstrong asked her son. "That was just two years ago".

Lance got angry at that. "Yeah, but her successor was that disgraceful _Paolina._ I'm going to bring glory back to this district, and I vow to be better than Margaret Malachi".

As they talked to Lance, however, he could tell that they were both mourning his brother, Noah, the one who had died in the 61st Hunger Games. Lance knew that he wasn't going to follow in his brother's footsteps.

* * *

Scar only had one visitor. This wasn't a surprise, since they never had too many friends at the community home.

Blakely asked if she could sit on her older sister's lap, which Scar was fine with. The older girl was very, very nervous, but she didn't want to let her younger sister know how she was feeling. She didn't need her sister to be worried about her as well.

"So I'll see you on TV?" Blakely said.

"That's right" Scar said. "And I'll be home before you know it".

Blakely nodded. The two sisters sat next to each other, trying to support each other as much as possible. Eventually, the Peacekeepers came and told her that it was time to head to the train station.

* * *

 **District 3**

" _Jiro!_ How dare you just off and volunteer like that!" his mother yelled.

"I'm pretty disappointed in you, son" Malcolm Clermont said. Really, Jiro's father was much more than disappointed. Jiro could tell that his father was just as, if not more, pissed off at him than his mother was. This was no surprise, considering that he had pegged Jiro to lead the family business. Now, for obvious reasons, that was no longer possible.

"I'm going to win" Jiro promised.

How could he explain that he _did_ want to be a chef, he just wanted to be known for something other than what he was already known for? What was wrong with not wanting to be a simple chef, wanting to have a little more substance to your life?

"I just don't want you to die" his mother said. "You really did just throw your life away, you do realize that?"

Jiro probably _had_ just thrown his life away. It had been pretty stupid of him to volunteer, and he knew it. However, he had seen no other choice, not if he wanted to live a different life than his old, boring one in District 3.

"Very well" Jasper said. Jiro's brother didn't seem happy about it, either, but even he understood that his brother couldn't just come back to the apartment with him. For better or worse, Jiro was headed off to the Capitol.

* * *

As for Panna, she had her younger brother and parents visit her. She wasn't happy about her situation, not by any means.

"You have to win" her father said slowly. iPod Sonic, Panna's father, was a very slow man in general. Some people thought that the 52-year-old had an early onset of Alzheimer's disease, but her mother always disputed this claim. In any case, they were all grieving the loss of their daughter.

"I'm going to" Panna said. "Who said I'm not going to win? I'm going to do everything in my power to put the odds in my favor".

Appela, Panna's mother, was a virtual cowgirl. She'd taught her daughter how to make a wire lasso, so hopefully this was going to help Panna win the Games.

"Find some wire in the Cornucopia" Appela said. "Make a lasso out of it. Use it to kill the other tributes. I really don't care what you do, so long as you come home. I don't know what we'll do without you"

"Be safe" iPod said. Of course, no part of the Hunger Games was safe. It was the most dangerous game you _could_ play.

* * *

 **District 4**

Jenny was only visited by one person, and that was her mother. The sight of the woman reminded Jenny why she had to win the Games; hers wasn't the only life at stake, and it never had been.

"I'm going to win" she promised her mother. "There's no excuse for me not to. I've been training for years, and I know I can do it".

Shelly Winters, Jenny's mother, looked at her daughter sadly. She ran her fingers on her right hand over the IV port in her left. "I get it. Really, I do. I have all the faith in you, and I agree, I think you can do this. I understand why you want to do this".

Both of them sat there after that, trying not to burst into tears. It wasn't easy, but they both managed to stay as dry-eyed as possible.

"Any advice for when I get to the Cornucopia?" Jenny asked her mother.

"It's really simple. Just grab a weapon and join the Careers. You're going to do well, Jenny".

* * *

Sam had his parents come to the Justice Building to see him off. In addition, his friend from the Career Academy, Axel, was there as well.

"Good luck, Sam" Dennis Hatcher, Sam's father, said. "There are some tough Careers out there, I'm sure".

Sam didn't think that his father could know this for sure. The recap of the Reapings, which was mandatory viewing for all of the citizens of the districts, was not going to play until that evening. Only then would they be able to see who Sam was going to be up against.

"I know this is my destiny" Sam said, ruffling his black hair. "The Hunger Games, I mean. I know that I can do this. If not, well, I'll be dead. I feel that I have nothing to lose".

His parents nodded, both of them proud of him for volunteering. In District 3, as well as Five through Twelve, volunteering was generally considered suicide. But in District 4, there was usually someone who was willing to take the place of whoever was chosen. Really, that was just the way it had always worked, and Sam was yet another Career from District 4, volunteering for the chance at glory.

* * *

 **District 5**

Kidra didn't have any visitors. It wasn't like she was surprised. She had no family left, and the man she had slept with last night really could not have been expected to come. Honestly, it was better this way.

The girl knew that she had always hated the Capitol. Now, however, she realized that she could finally do something about it. In a way, it was better that she had been reaped. Once in the Hunger Games, she felt that she would have control of her own destiny. She didn't have to play by their game; who said she would?

* * *

As for Tesla, he was first visited by Vida.

"Where are my parents and siblings?" he asked.

"They're going to be on the way" his girlfriend said. "They were just...running late".

Tesla's feelings became more and more hurt the longer his parents took to get there. Yeah, Vida had said that they'd merely been running late, but how much about that was really true? The tribute-to-be was pretty skeptical about it.

"You have to win, Tesla" Vida said to her boyfriend.

"Don't worry. I'm going to do everything I can. Don't know if it'll be enough with all of the Careers, but I'm not going down without a fight. Then again, neither is anyone else, I don't think".

"Yeah, it'll be stiff competition".

After a few minutes, by which time Tesla's parents and brother still had not come, it was time for him to go.

* * *

 **District 6**

Bretson couldn't believe it. In just one day, he'd lost the chance to meet his unborn son. Even his girlfriend coming in couldn't cheer him up.

Annabelle came in to see him. Bretson's girlfriend looked very sorry for him, and who wouldn't be? Bretson had just been reaped for the Hunger Games; things didn't get too much worse than that.

"I wish I wouldn't have been reaped, but there's nothing I can do about it" he said. "I'll just try and wrestle my way out of things" he said, patting the belly of his pregnant girlfriend. It still hadn't started to show, but he knew that it would soon enough.

"I'll see you again, whether it's weeks or decades from now" Annabelle said. "Give me a kiss".

Bretson obliged, and Annabelle left, to be replaced by his parents.

They both seemed very sad for their son, going off to die in the arena. Despite Bretson's assurances that he would be fine, they didn't seem to believe him.

* * *

"I love you, Cassia" Apollo Haydn told his daughter.

They were embraced in a hug, with Phoebe Haydn, her mother, standing right to the side.

"Come back, please" Phoebe said. "We can't afford to lose both of our children".

Cassia's mother had helped to get her father back after he was dealing with the PTSD from his own Hunger Games. Cassia could only hope that she was going to be so fortunate, should she win, that she could get a man to do the same for her.

She was no longer sure that she wanted to win. And yet, she knew that she had to try, for the sake of her parents. They couldn't lose another child.

* * *

 **District 7**

"Fennal, you're going to create a long legacy of victors in our family" his father told him. "I expect nothing but the best of you once you get into that arena, you hear me?"

Fennal nodded. Even though he'd been training for this for years, it all seemed unreal to him. He really was going into the Hunger Games, and this was going to be the mountaintop of his life. Either he'd go plummeting down, signifying him dying, or he'd stay at the top, basking in the lifelong glory of being a victor.

Mrs. Undergrove, however, looked a lot less happy. She'd never been as proud of her own achievement as her husband had, and it showed right now. Even though Cypress Undergrove loved her son very much, it was clear to see that she did not approve of his decision to volunteer.

Laurel, on the other hand, looked very happy for her brother. "Good luck, Fennal!" she called to him.

"I'm going to give it my all" he said back.

* * *

Heather hadn't been looking forward to her good-bye. Of course, she hadn't wanted to get reaped in the first place, but...

Her mother walked in. She was looking very pleased to have some last moments with her daughter, but then something else had to happen.

"Heather?" came a male voice that the reaped girl knew only too well.

"Elm! What the _hell_ are you doing here?" Heather's mother all but yelled.

"I just wanted to say good-bye to my daughter. Is that a crime?"

"Well, you never did seem to care about her!" her mother _actually_ yelled this time.

They continued arguing, until Heather shouted, "Guys! _Shut up!_ Both of you!"

However, neither of her parents seemed to get it. They'd both come here, not to argue, but to bid farewell to their daughter, whom they would almost certainly never see again.

Heather was all too happy when the Peacekeepers came, leaving her all alone.

* * *

 **District 8**

Jute Taper was an overworked factory worker, much like many of the other people in District 8. However, he did care about his daughter very much, which was why he came to see her off.

"I'm not going to win, Daddy" she told her father. Bobbin really wanted to believe otherwise, but all of the evidence compelled her to think that there really was no way she could win. She was up against a potential roster of Career tributes that, if they were even half as skilled as Garnet Golds, would seem to make it nearly impossible that she would make it past the first few days.

"I'm not counting you out, Bobbin" Jute told her daughter. Bobbin wasn't sure if he was saying this just to comfort her, but she really hoped that that assessment was false. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep off the stressful day in her own bed. Of course, that wasn't going to happen.

* * *

Warp was extremely jittery. He got up off the sofa he had been provided in the room in the Justice Building and started pacing the length of the floor. He was under a lot of stress, and he really did hope that his family came in soon.

Weft came in to bid him farewell, as did his parents. They all tried to comfort him, but it really wasn't possible at the moment. Reason being, Warp was a chronically nervous person, and making matters worse was the fact that he was going off to his death. That was never an easy idea to get over.

Finally, the Peacekeepers came to tell Warp and his family that their time together was over.

* * *

 **District 9**

Acacia's world still seemed to have a purple haze around it. Blinking to try to get it out of her eyes, she saw that her parents were visiting her. Even her father, who was rarely at home.

They spoke to her, but the words seemed pretty muffled. Really, from her point of view, it was anyone's guess as to what they were saying. She just wanted to go to sleep. She wanted to go back to her own bed and forget that she'd ever been reaped.

Unfortunately, that just wasn't something that was going to happen.

* * *

Predictably, Ollie's parents didn't show up to say good-bye to him. That was fine with him, since his parents had disowned him before. He was just waiting for his girlfriend. He'd held out hope that his brother would come as well, but that didn't happen.

"Hey, Ollie" Fey said as she was walking into the room. In each of her arms, she was carrying one of their children.

"Hello, Fey" Ollie said miserably.

For a time, both of them just sat there. After all, there wasn't much getting past the fact that Ollie was most likely not going to be able to see his children grow up. It made his heart break to think of that, it really did. However, there wasn't much he could do besides try to win.

"Get a scythe" Fey said. "Kill everyone you need to. You'll be on that train home before you know it".

Ollie nodded with tears in his eyes.

* * *

 **District 10**

Bonnie had quite a few visitors. Her parents, brother, and sister, twelve-year-old Jasmine, had all come to say goodbye.

"You have to win" Jasmine told Bonnie. The older girl only hoped that she would be able to keep that promise, but she doubted it. She'd be up against Careers that would no doubt be a lot tougher than she was. Even though she wasn't exactly ladylike, it wasn't like she was "manlike" in the sense that she was tough. She didn't see any way she could win these Games.

Of course, she didn't want to tell her family that. She wasn't nearly as confident in her abilities as she let on around them.

"I'm going to" Bonnie said.

Chris patted Bonnie on the back. Unfortunately, their friendly rivalry was now going to have to end, as Bonnie was going on a trip of no return.

* * *

Neo paced the room until his brother arrived.

"Tyler! I love you!" he gasped, rushing into his brother's arms. Tyler embraced him just the same as always.

Neo had dropped out of school in order to take care of his brother. Now, it was all for nothing. Once he was off into the Hunger Games, Tyler was going to have to make it on his own, not the easiest thing to do in the Stockyard of District 10.

Nathalia, Neo's girlfriend, came into the room. She was two years younger than Neo, and took his arm in hers.

"Good luck in the Games" she said.

Neo kissed her hand, knowing that he would most likely never see Nathalia again. He didn't believe in heaven, so he had to win.

Eventually, the Peacekeepers entered the room, and Neo said goodbye to his only family for what was likely to be the last time.

* * *

 **District 11**

Juliana's father and brother visited her, as did her grandmother. All of them wished her the best of luck in the Games, as Juliana tried to think of whatever talents she might have? Were there any weapons she could use to her advantage? Could she camouflage herself and hide from the other tributes?

Finally, her last visitor came in. Lucas Copperway entered, looking as beautiful as always.

"Good luck, Juliana" he said. "You're going to need it".

Juliana knew that Lucas was right. She didn't see how she would be able to win the Hunger Games without luck. And there was also something that she desperately, _desperately_ wanted to tell Lucas.

Juliana had always had a crush on the boy, but she knew that her feelings were unrequited, that Lucas Copperway only saw Juliana Skythorne as a friend, nothing more. It broke her heart to think of that, but she knew that it made no sense to tell him. Not now, when he was no doubt preoccupied with her leaving.

It was a relief when the Peacekeepers came to tear Lucas apart from her.

* * *

 _I'm standing in this old, musty building. I volunteered to get here. Why did I volunteer?_

 _Oh, yeah, that's because I wanted to get out of this district. Two ones that still don't equal two. It really seems hopeless. Even if I'm going off to die, still better than that hellhole they like to call District 11. It's such an evil euphemism, isn't it?_

 _And I've been waiting for a few minutes...and here are the Peacekeepers, coming to send me to the train station. This is it. It's every man for himself...but I'll probably just die on purpose. I don't want to live in the Victor's Village here._

* * *

 **District 12**

Annabeth was frightened. She was only thirteen years old, and she had just been sent off to die. Even her family being there couldn't assuage her fears.

"You're going to do all right" Jerome, her father, said. "I have complete faith in you".

She nodded, trying to console herself. Her younger sister, Rubye, was trying to comfort her as well, saying that she was going to go to heaven early...yeah. Not very helpful.

She knew she was going to be a Bloodbath death. She just knew it.

* * *

"Don't treat your sister that way, Darros!" his mother ordered him.

Darros just didn't like women, so he wasn't keen to follow his mother's orders. He was just under a lot of stress, that was all. He didn't want to die.

Everyone in Darros's family knew that he loved to mistreat women and girls. When it came to men and boys, however, he was very frightened of them. So he took it out on those he perceived as weaker, members of the other gender.

Of course, however, Darros couldn't just do that to everyone else he was going to encounter in the Hunger Games.

* * *

 **Good riddance! I'm done with the good-byes, they were so boring to write. I hope that you will leave a review and tell me if you liked the way I portrayed your character in this chapter. I didn't get as many views as I thought on the last chapter, but we're still at 820. We've hit 44 reviews, and I really do think we can reach 200 before it ends.**

 **Sincerely, SnowLucario**


	6. Escorting The Tributes To The Capitol

**Past 50 reviews and we're not even in the Capitol yet! The goal is still the same, 200.**

 **Here are the train rides! Each one is pretty short, with 2 and 9 being slightly longer due to our victors being there. I hope that you enjoy this chapter, and leave a review telling me which one you liked the most.**

* * *

 **District 1**

Sei was sorry that he had had to leave his fiancee, but he knew that his destiny was in the Hunger Games. Win or lose, he hoped that he was going to do Natalie proud. He wasn't so sure about working with the girl next to him, though.

"Ebony? Is that your name?"

His district partner looked back at him with those brutal blue eyes. Even though Sei was a Career, those eyes were something that shook him to the core. He was a little wary of working with someone like that as a part of the Career pack, but he knew that they really did have no other option. For better or worse, they had to work together, and that was just the way it went every year.

" _Yes_ " Ebony said testily. "And I kind of want to be alone right now. We'll be in the Capitol tonight".

Sei supposed that was true. Wondering if Ebony was from a poorer family, he decided to head over to the dining car, where his mentor was. Maybe there he would be able to get some advice on how to win the Games. How to overcome the other Careers.

Once he entered the dining car, he looked at all of the delicious-looking pastries that were present. The strawberry tarts, lemon bars, apple pies, cakes, donuts...it all looked like something Natalie would cook. He took a lemon bar, something that reminded him of his betrothed.

He planned to honor that engagement. He would make sure that he got back home.

* * *

 **District 2**

As soon as Lance and Scar were aboard the train, Margaret came to join them. The young woman was wearing a blue dress today, looking as beautiful as always, at least from Lance's point of view.

"I want to give you guys some pointers" she said. Her tributes listened, since they wanted anything that could give them an advantage over their fellow Careers...a group which included each other.

"The girl...Scarlett, right?"

"Please, call me Scar" the female tribute said.

"You don't look like Career material" Margaret told her.

This shocked Scar. Normally, Margaret Malachi was known for being very good-natured, not one to question a person's devotion to the Hunger Games. Lance was sitting across the table in the dining car from them, wondering what had come over her. Was there something that his district partner wasn't telling him?

Lance decided that that could wait until the Games. Right now, he was impressed by how clean all of the attendants on the train seemed to be. At home, both of his parents were blacksmiths, and they often came home with their aprons dusty.

"Isn't your father a blacksmith, Margaret?" Lance asked the victor.

"Yes, he is. He still does it, in fact, just for something to do. Find a weapon you like and use it to its fullest. I assume that you've been training, haven't you?"

Lance nodded. He knew that he wanted his sword in the arena. That was how he was going to win.

* * *

 **District 3**

Panna was appalled at her district partner. Why would he have volunteered like that, when it was considered suicide in District 3? Was he hoping to be with the Careers? If so, they'd probably just dispatch him immediately.

Even though Jiro tried to approach her with an offer to join an alliance with him, she declined, not very politely. She didn't care about being polite. The fact was that she didn't want to be in an alliance with someone so stupid as to volunteer from District 3.

She suspected that he was going to end up in cahoots with the Careers...if they'd let them. More likely, they'd betray him during the Bloodbath, if he didn't step off his plate first.

Yeah, the Clermonts were well-known chefs from District 3, but when it really came down to it, what good would a spatula do in the Hunger Games? Probably not much.

All in all, Panna was nervous. She'd been repead, and now she was heading off to the Hunger Games and near-certain death. It wasn't something that she was looking forward to, but it was an inevitability now.

She decided to head to her cabin on the train, which turned out to be very nice. The bed looked very comfortable, and she doubted she'd have much trouble sleeping on the train. After such a stressful day, she was exhausted.

* * *

 **District 4**

Sam immediately shook hands with Jenny once they got on the train. As soon as they had made it over the threshold, Jenny said, "Sam...there's something I want to tell you".

Sam was curious. The way Jenny had said it, it sounded like there was some hard emotional reason that she wanted to let him be aware of something. Really, however, he had no idea what was going on, and in the Hunger Games, the less of your emotional side you showed, the more likely you were to become victor. It might have worked for Paolina, but lightning was unlikely to strike twice.

"What is it, Jenny?" Sam asked.

"My mother...has cancer. That's why I volunteered. I want to be able to pay for her medical treatment, so that she might get better".

 _Probably a lie,_ Sam thought. _If it was true, why would she tell me about that? It makes no sense_. _I suppose that the Careers need to trust each other if we are to survive as an alliance, but is that really necessary? Is she trying to trick me? Because, if not, Jenny Winters might be the dumbest person to ever play the Hunger Games._

"I'm sorry about that" Sam said. "Let's see what other people might be good fits for the Career alliance, once we get to those chariots".

Jenny nodded. She could agree with that. Sometimes, tributes from 3, 5, or 7 could also help them, but not nearly as often as 1, 2, or 4. Really, she didn't care, as long as she made it back home.

* * *

 **District 5**

You might think that Tesla and Kidra would get along pretty well. After all, they had a lot of things in common. Both of them, for instance, broke the law on quite a few occasions.

However, Kidra didn't want to form emotional attachments. It was one thing she had learned from being a prostitute. While some of the men she slept with were nice and/or handsome, she knew that it was only for a night. Now, it was going to be far worse, because she knew that there was a possibility, even though it might be slight, that she would kill or get killed by Tesla. That possibility was not something she was excited about.

As such, she tried to think about other things. She headed to the dining car and cut herself a piece of apple pie, a delicacy that she had rarely been able to enjoy back in her own district. Some of the men had served it, but not nearly enough.

Kidra returned to the living car to find that Tesla was still sitting there. She decided to go back to her quarters, for Kidra knew that the less she had to do with Tesla, the better. At least, that was the way she saw it.

Because Kidra knew, she just _knew,_ that she didn't want to form any alliances. She didn't want to play by the Capitol's game.

* * *

 **District 6**

Cassia knew that she was better prepared than most reaped tributes, even though she was on the younger end of things. However, when she looked at Bretson, she was worried that all bets were off. He looked very muscular, and she'd heard of him as the wrestling champion of District 6. He was going to be a tough nut to crack, that one.

"Do you want to form an alliance?" Cassia asked her district partner. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, as they say.

Bretson, much to her surprise, nodded. "I'll do it. Any allies would be better than no allies. If I can't trust you, I can't trust anyone".

Even so, Cassia was intimidated by Bretson. With how easily he had accepted the offer for an alliance, she was worried that he might have some tricks up his sleeve that she wasn't aware of. That wasn't a pleasant thought, but she was worried about the truth.

The truth was, she was the second child of Apollo and Phoenix Haydn to be reaped for the Hunger Games. And, unless Bretson was an _amazingly_ loyal ally, she'd also be the second to die. She didn't see herself being as lucky as her father had been.

* * *

 **District 7**

Fennal and Heather weren't speaking to each other. Really, it was mainly Heather who was blocking out Fennal. Fennal, however, seemed to want Heather to join his alliance.

"My mom's a victor, and my dad wants even more fame and fortune for the Undergrove family. I'm joining the Careers, and I really think you should as well. Eight strong, an alliance like that is _unstoppable!_ "

Heather was still focused on her goodbye, when her parents had both come just to fight. She hoped that her death would make them see sense and divorce each other, if nothing else. It was clear they weren't happy there.

In any case...Fennal was a complete idiot. Heather knew that much. There were rarely Career tributes from districts outside of 1, 2, and 4, so to have another in just three Hunger Games was something special, or specially idiotic.

 _Of course,_ thought Heather, _the Capitol LOVES_ _volunteers. I'm sure that they make it more entertaining._

The thought made Heather feel sick to her stomach. Even more so than when she thought about what her father was doing, how he was either cheating or doing a very good job of making it look like he was.

* * *

 **District 8**

Warp and Bobbin didn't talk to each other too much. Both of them were pretty shy, and neither of them had much of anything to say. It was only when their mentor came in that a conversation was forced to commence.

"So...what are we doing when we get to the Cornucopia?" the mentor asked her tributes. "You can't just go in all willy-nilly".

"I'm just going to try and run" Bobbin said. "Hopefully, I can get a sponsor or something".

The mentor nodded. "I think that we can arrange that. Just make sure you look good in your costumes, which your stylists are going to help with. Just relax. We're going to be in the Capitol soon enough".

Warp didn't want to go to the Capitol, but unfortunately he had no say in the matter. He didn't want to get dressed up in some flamboyant outfit, paraded through the oval in the Capitol, and hope to attract sponsors.

But, just like with the matter of going to the Capitol, he had no say in it.

* * *

 **District 9**

Ollie wasn't happy about his district partner, who was a yellow-skinned bag of bones. Most morphling addicts were from District 6, but this girl showed all the telltale signs of being one.

He wasn't too thrilled about his mentor, either. Paolina Guignard, the young girl who sat in front of them, seemed to be completely unfit for the job. Not only was she younger than him (and yes, he was aware that she had more experience in the arena), but she kept fidgeting as she was talking, as if she expected to have to get up at any moment. Ollie didn't think that she was good at her job, especially considering that she had only barely won the Games.

"Run away from the Cornucopia, or at least grab something extremely close to you" Paolina said. "You don't want to get killed in the Bloodbath like that".

Ollie supposed that he didn't. Of course, though, Paolina wasn't going to give him the most helpful advice, and he knew it. After all, she hadn't ever had to harm anyone, and, as the victor gave him tips on how to run away from enemies, he had to restrain himself from pointing out that his final opponent was unlikely to already be bleeding out from a stab wound.

Acacia, on the other hand, didn't seem to care that they had such a poor mentor. She seemed to be taking in all of Paolina's advice, at least as much as a morphling addict could. Ollie knew that she wasn't going to be his alliance member, not in a million years. Nor did he really think he wanted an alliance. At this point, it was every man for himself.

* * *

 **District 10**

Neo wasn't happy to have left Tyler. Looking at his district partner, he didn't see how he could get along with her. He'd have to go without her, it was as simple as that.

Bonnie seemed nice enough, but she was from a wealthier part of District 10. Neo was from the Stockyard, and Bonnie didn't seem to appreciate that his clothes were fairly dirty. Of course, there were new ones in the chests underneath their beds on the train, but Neo didn't want to put them on just yet.

He was hungry, so he headed off to the dining car. Once he was there, he admired the rainbow of color that he saw. In the Stockyard, everything there seemed to be pretty much the same color, and produce was difficult to come by. Here, there were bananas, apples, peaches, pears, and slices of melon on one table, while another table held various sandwiches. A third table held various pastries, and Neo knew that he would never be able to taste all of this.

Neo settled on a raspberry tart, and his first bite didn't taste very good due to the rage he suddenly felt.

 _The Capitol. They have all of this food, and they make us in the districts starve. That's not fair._

Of course, he was well and truly in their clutches now.

* * *

 **District 11**

Juliana didn't get a good vibe from her district partner. Rey was, first of all, dumb enough to volunteer. Secondly, he didn't seem like he was mentally stable at all. Not necessarily insane, just...creepy.

Somewhat selfishly, she wished that she could have had Lucas Copperway with her now. But then reality struck her: Lucas would be at risk of dying in the arena as well; in fact he almost certainly would. Still, her friend and unrequited love interest would be far better company than this boy here.

Did she want an alliance? She didn't really know, but if she did get an alliance, it wasn't going to be with this boy right here.

As her mentor walked in, she got ready for a grilling on strategy-related topics. She had little confidence that she could win, since she wasn't that skilled, but there was still hope, and if she didn't have hope, she had nothing.

* * *

 **District 12**

Darros wasn't happy to be in the company of a _girl._ No way in hell he was forming an alliance with her! At the same time, he might need one to survive, so would he join an alliance with other boys? _Could_ he?

 _No,_ Darros thought. _I can leave well enough on my own. I don't need their help._

But there was something else that Darros was too ashamed to admit: He might have hated girls and women, but he was also timid around other guys. With that, he knew that this severely decreased his staying power in the Hunger Games.

* * *

 **And I'm done! The next chapter, which might take a little longer (so, probably like 3-4 days) will be the chariot ride. Would you believe me if I told you that this chapter was all written in 2 hours total? Because it was.**

 **In any case, please review. I want to know how I wrote your tribute, and if I can do anything better. I'm REALLY looking forward to the Bloodbath, but here's what we have first:**

 **1\. Chariot ride**

 **2\. Training**

 **3\. Facing the Gamemakers & Scores**

 **4\. Ball**

 **Okay, so just four more chapters after this. Chapter 11 will be the Bloodbath. I hope you're looking forward to it!**


	7. Make Panem Great Again

**The reason for the title of this chapter will become clear further down on the page. You're going to like it.**

 **After reviews came in slowly for the last chapter, I was a little disappointed. I'm trying not to update at breakneck speeds like I did last time, because I want you guys to be able to keep up. But you guys have to tell me what you think, or else how can I improve?**

 **Also, I made a prediction for the 2018 Senate races that I put on my Tumblr. Long story short: I think that there will be 56 Republicans and 44 Democrats in the next Congress, with Donnelly, McCaskill, Heitkamp, and Manchin losing their seats, with an additional six swing seats, including the presumed-safe Elizabeth Warren. In any case...let's get to the chapter...it's Chariot Rides! Finally, the Career pack is going to get to see each other!**

* * *

It was now the evening after the tributes had all arrived in the Capitol, and this only meant one thing: It was time for the chariot rides.

At primetime, after the tributes had all been fixed up to the stylists' satisfaction, each of them walked over to their district's chariot. This was an annual tradition in Panem, and this is how it went:

There were twelve chariots, all lined up in the oval that passed the Training Center and President Snow's mansion. Each chariot was pulled by a magnificent white stallion. The chariots were arranged in numerical order by district, with 1 in the front and 12 in the back. The tributes, who had been dressed in flamboyant costumes, would be paraded through the oval and seen by the Capitolites.

This was very important, because your costume could affect whether or not you got any sponsors, and sponsors could make the difference between life and death in the arena. The way things were going, many of these tributes would need the extra luck that came with sponsorship.

* * *

"I like this costume a lot" Sei said, fingering with the buttons on his suit. "We're going to get a lot of sponsors, mark my words".

 _Easy enough for him to say,_ Ebony thought. She felt that her costume was very much inferior to that of her district partner. Sei got to be dressed as a butler, wearing a tuxedo and holding a glass of wine. She supposed that his arm might get tired, but she'd seen him back at the Reaping, and on the train ride to get here. He sure looked pretty strong.

By contrast, Ebony was tangled in fake grapevines, with plastic grapes above all of her private parts. It was rather lacking in modesty, but that wasn't the main problem. Probably they'd been going for looking like a wine goddess, but she felt that she looked more like she was tangled in Christmas tree lights, which would be an embarrassing situation to find yourself in, particularly when you were trying to attract sponsors for the Hunger Games.

"Do you want to go check out the other Careers?" Sei asked Ebony. "See if there are any other good fits for our alliance?"

Normally, the Career alliance consisted of Districts 1, 2, and 4, but there were occasionally tributes from other districts that joined up. It was really on a case-by-case basis, but it did happen. A wider alliance did present some risks, but those risks were considered to be worth taking.

"Let's" she said back. "We'll need to check out District 2".

As it turned out, the tributes from District 2 had already gotten out of their chariot, and were heading to meet the District 1 tributes for precisely the same reason. Both of them were dressed in black aprons with a large white number two on them, probably symbolizing the fact that blacksmithing was a very common occupation in their district.

"Hello. I'm Lance" said the boy. He was tall, with dark brown hair and blue eyes, and he looked very strong indeed.

"And I'm Scar" said the girl next to him, who was also strong-looking, but not quite as much as her district partner.

"I'm Ebony, and this is Sei" the District 1 girl said. "I guess we're the Careers this year".

"Don't forget District 4" Scar said. "We're going to have to check them out first, just to make sure that they're up for the task of having volunteered for the Games".

The Careers from Districts 1 and 2 began walking down the line, looking for District 4. Along the way, they passed District 3, looking very weird in their costumes. Each of them had electrodes on their chest and head, looking like they were involved in some kind of sci-fi simulation. The girl looked pretty peeved at this, but the boy looked excited that the Careers were coming.

"I volunteered, you know!" the boy from District 3 called at the Careers.

"Ah, fuck off" Sei said. "You're not a _real_ Career".

The girls, Ebony and Scar, looked at each other, wondering if they could really trust Sei. He sure seemed like a loose cannon.

* * *

Sam and Jenny stood in their chariot, admiring each other's costumes. Sam wore a Medium Sea Green (#30AA77) cape, with a suit made out of pearls. It wasn't terribly comfortable, but he figured that it was going to look good to the audience. Really, that was what he cared about, getting sponsors.

As for Jenny, she wasn't wearing the most modest costume that had ever been worn for the chariot rides. Jenny had on a skirt made of seaweed, with shells over her breasts. Looking at Sam, she wondered how he was even able to walk around in that costume. After all, it looked horribly awkward to wear.

"Let's go and see what everyone else is wearing" Jenny said.

Sam cut her off. "No. We've got to see the other Careers first, then see if anyone else might be suitable. Strength in numbers, right?"

"I suppose" Jenny said.

* * *

A few districts back, Fennal and Heather were standing in their chariot, facing away from each other. Heather wasn't going to forgive her district partner anytime soon for joining the Careers, or planning to. Really, he was an idiot for volunteering at all. No doubt he would be considered dispensable for the Career pack, and disposed of at the earliest opportunity.

"I'm going to go join the Careers" he said casually, as if it was as easy as getting a snack from the fridge.

"Fine" Heather said. "You're an idiot, but fine".

"Whatever" Fennal said. "They're going to accept me, and then you're going to be wishing you came with me. It's a dog-eat-dog world in the arena, Heather, and you'd better find _some_ alliance, or else you're gonna get left in the dust".

Heather didn't plan on joining any alliances. She knew that it would likely end up with either an amicable disbanding, or having to kill each other. Neither of those options really appealed to her, and besides, there could only be one victor. Heather really wanted that to be her, and she didn't see herself trusting another person to help her get there.

Fennal climbed out of the chariot, dressed as a lumberjack. Heather had been dressed as a tree, with swimming pool noodles for branches, looking very much like one of the trees from the play in the movie adaptation of _Diary Of A Wimpy Kid._ Fennal, with his fake axe, was supposed to swing it at his district partner, as if he was a real lumberjack. Heather only hoped that this wouldn't correspond to what would actually happen in the arena.

He walked down the line, looking at the costumes for District 6. The girl was dressed in a conductor's outfit, looking very much like something from an elementary school play. Fennal pitied her, but he liked the costume of the boy, who looked several years older, a lot better. The District 6 boy was wearing a grease-splattered engineer's costume, looking like he had just had a day of hard work on the train tracks, or working on a train's engine.

"I'm joining the Careers" Fennal told the boy. "You look the part. What's your name? I'm Fennal Undergrove".

The boy from District 6 looked at Fennal. "I'm Bretson Muller, and I'm a District 6 youth wrestling champion. I think the Careers will want me. Reaped or volunteered, Fennal?"

"Volunteered, but why? Are the Careers going to draw any real distinction?"

"They might" Bretson said. "I was reaped, but I'll come along with you".

"They're never going to accept you" Fennal said. "You didn't volunteer, so you're not _really_ a Career. Enough said, you're not going to convince them to let you in. I trained for years to get in".

Bretson sighed. "I'm not joining an alliance that you're in, Fennal. I'm going to find my own".

Fennal saw Bretson get out of his chariot, leaving his district partner to stand there by herself. Then, as if realizing he'd forgotten something, Breston looked back at the District 6 girl.

"Want to come with me, Cassia? Let's do what Seven did last year".

Cassia was only too happy to oblige. She also wanted an alliance, and it just sounded pretty wise. Last year, the tributes of District 7, Taysom and Karla, had banded together and created a large alliance with 8 and 11. Of course, none of them had won, but Taysom had made the final three, with Noelle and Karla also making the final ten. It had, overall, been a pretty successful alliance, even if it had imploded later.

With that, the District 6 tributes headed off in the opposite direction, passing Heather in her chariot. They were on the lookout for some allies from the outer districts.

 _Well, we can have two alliances, and see how that goes,_ Fennal thought. Really, he was okay with anything as long as he could be with the Careers. However, he didn't even _try_ to suppress a laugh as he passed the District 5 chariot.

Tesla and Kidra were both dressed up in cheesy lightbulb costumes. Each of them wore silver pants with lines around them, in order to have the effect of looking like the soldered tips of the bulbs. That wasn't the worst part, though. The upper half of their bodies were covered in a large bulb, a tent of breathable air that made them look kind of like aliens. If the pants looked silly, the upper half of the costume was downright laughable.

"Well, this sucks, doesn't it?" Kidra said, looking at the District 7 boy. He was flat-out _cackling,_ and she wondered why on Earth he was walking this way. Was he going to join the Careers?

"Hey, it wasn't my fault" Tesla said, giggling in an embarrassed fashion. Kidra could tell that even her district partner was displeased with his costume. She supposed that he was right, though. Had she had the choice, she knew that she would not have chosen this costume for herself. Really, it was just demeaning that the stylists would even consider that.

"Sucks for you guys!" the boy from District 7 said. "I'm joining the Careers!"

The tributes from District 5 stood awkwardly in their chariot. They really did just want the ride to be over, so that they could focus on training. In order to survive.

Of course, the costume had only angered Kidra more. She wanted to do anything she could to defy the Capitol once she was actually in the arena, but she didn't know how possible that was going to be.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Careers passed the District 5 chariot.

"Those costumes _suck!"_ Sam said arrogantly. "You really think you'll get sponsors that way?"

Jenny tried to get her district partner to shut up. She reminded herself that this was the person she was going to be aligned with in the arena, and so she should try not to put too much angst into this situation. Even so, it was hard to ignore the way she felt about this.

District 6 was absent from their chariot. "They're probably looking for allies of their own" Lance said.

Scar really hoped that this was not the case. Last year's Hunger Games had essentially been a battle between two alliances for dominance, with the Careers mostly coming out on top. Then again, neither alliance had parted amicably, each featuring at least one death.

"Let's move on, guys" Sei said. "Let's stop with Seven, though. Usually, the others after that aren't good Careers, and we can find anyone else we want during training if we have to".

None of the other Careers could see any flaws in the District 1 boy's reasoning, and so they continued on walking down the line of chariots, wondering if District 7 would have any tributes who looked fit for the Career pack.

At the same time, Ebony noticed a pair of tributes wearing what looked to be uniforms of an engineer and conductor. Clearly, those were the District 6 tributes. She didn't know if she wanted to form a group consisting of both the Careers and whoever the pair from the transportation district were able to get. That was going to be a pretty huge alliance, and such a large group wasn't sustainable. Granted, _any_ alliance would have to disband eventually.

* * *

Bretson, meanwhile, was looking for allies. He knew that he'd be a major target of the Careers as soon as that gong rang, because he was pretty muscular. Cassia was right on his tail, as they had decided that they would work together in the arena.

"Hello" Cassia said to the District 7 tributes, dressed as a lumberjack and tree. The boy looked somewhat Asian and pretty strong, while the girl was short with red hair, at least from what they could see with her costume.

"Are you asking to join us?" the boy asked. "If so, the answer is _hell no._ I'm playing with the Careers".

"They'll never let you in!" Bretson pleaded, not believing his own words. "We will. Any tributes who want to take out 1, 2, and 4 are welcome".

"Well, you can see that my district partner isn't in" the girl said. "But I will. I don't mind going against him".

"Great!" Breston said. "That's one more in our group, so we're up to three. Do you want to keep on going, look for some in Eight or Nine?"

"Yeah" the girl said. "My name's Heather, by the way. How about you guys?"

"I'm Cassia and this is Bretson" the District 6 girl said. "As you can see, we're from District 6".

Bretson didn't want to tell Heather his backstory, thinking that she wouldn't be so quick to align with the pair if she knew about his secret.

District 8, on the other hand, both looked pathetic to Heather. "No point in persuading my district partner, his mother was a victor, so he's in it for the glory" she said. "Let's see these other people".

The boy was small and thin, like many people in Panem were due to being malnourished. The girl looked Asian as well, much like Heather's district partner. She was trying to smile, but it was hard when they were both dressed as weavers. Warp in particular looked kind of like Mario without a hat, except that his suit was beige instead of red.

"I-I-I'm W-Warp" the boy stuttered. It was plain to see that he was a very shy boy, and unlikely to want to talk to them too much. The girl, on the other hand, looked a lot happier to see other tributes that weren't Careers.

"I'm Bobbin" the girl said. "Do you guys want to join me? Warp's not into it, but I'll make you guys a foursome".

None of them had to consider. "You're in" Heather said. She then turned to the pair from District 6. "As long as it's okay with you?"

Cassia and Bretson both nodded, showing that they were fine with another. Maybe they _could_ make this another Underdog Alliance if they played their cards right.

* * *

Fennal was very excited. The Careers were coming down the row of chariots right now, and now that his district partner wasn't here, they were going to notice him.

As soon as the six tributes from Districts 1, 2, and 4 had reached the District 7 chariot, Fennal climbed down.

"You want to join us?" Ebony asked testily. "You know, we don't let just anyone into the Career alliance".

"I know" Fennal said. "But trust me when I say that I'm one of the best people for the job. I'm going to kill it, and kill the other tributes".

"Sure" Scar said. "What's your name?"

"Fennal Undergrove. My mother's a victor, so I've trained my entire life".

"Yeah...Cypress Undergrove" Lance said, as if he was opening up her Wikipedia page. "She won the 32nd Hunger Games. Let's let Fennal in".

Fennal gave Lance a high five before joining up with the other Careers, not all of whom looked as enthusiastic as Lance Armstrong. Ebony in particular looked like she was going to rage out any minute, but Fennal was okay with that. He could always kill her in her sleep if necessary, although he didn't think it would be.

"Let's go back to our chariots" Jenny said. "The parade's going to be starting soon. Isn't it?"

Sam looked up at the sky. According to the JumboTron above the square, 10 minutes and 51 seconds remained before the tributes had to get back to their chariots. "We still have some time, but I think seven is enough. And District 7, too. There's just no way that there will be any other viable Careers after that. There never are".

With that, the other six Careers bade Fennal goodbye as they began heading back to their chariots, knowing that the parade was going to be starting soon.

* * *

District 9 had been dressed up in a pair of not-very-impressive costumes. Ollie and Acacia both wore suits made of fake wheat, neither of which looked like they would be endearing to sponsors. They could just pass over the girl, Bretson argued, because her eyes looked glazed over, and she just didn't look like she was ready to play in the Hunger Games.

"Could she be a morphling addict?" Cassia asked quietly.

"I don't know" Heather said. "You'd know better than me. Aren't there a lot of morphling addicts in District 6?"

"Yeah" Bretson said sadly. "Especially our victors. They're never in good shape...I suppose surviving something like the Hunger Games can have an effect on a person".

None of the three girls asked Bretson what he meant. Inside, however, Breston was fancying himself as the next Taysom Resinworth, a bigger boy who led three girls in an alliance deep into the Games and almost won. Except that Bretson wanted to _actually_ win.

The District 9 boy didn't seem too keen on an alliance. "I'm not doing it, guys. Only one winner".

Bretson's group was okay with that. Bobbin could definitely understand that there would be no way that all of them, or even two of them, could win. Only one tribute was leaving the arena alive, and, she presumed, everyone there wanted it to be them.

As for District 10, their costumes were almost as bad as District 5's. Bretson and Cassia had been able to see with their own eyes just how embarrassing these costumes were, but these weren't much better.

The boy from the livestock district was wearing a steak costume with no arm holes, not too dissimilar to Scout's ham costume from _To Kill A Mockingbird._ As for the girl, she was decked out in what looked like a milk bottle costume. This one didn't have any arm holes either.

The District 10 boy got out of his chariot, introduced himself as Neo Falco, and asked if he could join the Career pack.

"I don't see why not" Bretson said. "Does your district partner want in?"

"No" Neo said. "She doesn't really want to be in any alliances. But let's go, because we've only got...six minutes or so left" he said, looking at the clock.

And, with that, the alliance continued to head down the line of chariots to District 11, both of whom were dressed up in cheesy costumes. The boy looked like a farmer, and he was extremely pale. In order to look the part, the District 11 boy was clutching a pitchfork and looked like he was about to stab his district partner, who must have been the girl. She was dressed up as an apple.

"I'm not interested" the boy said, already sensing what the group was going to ask of him.

"I am" the girl said.

Juliana could tell that these people probably trusted each other. Otherwise, why would they have formed such a large alliance of four? In the Hunger Games, having an alliance took a lot of trust.

"You're in as long as Bretson's okay with it" Bobbin said.

The large boy in the grease-splattered engineer outfit nodded. "I like the idea of her being in it. But I-".

The other five looked at Bretson. He didn't want to say that he was worried that the four girls might team up and get rid of him and Neo, but he didn't think that was going to happen. Much like Taysom and Karla, he figured that the other tributes would be more scared than he was.

"Nothing" the District 6 boy said. "Let's just go back to our own chariots. The ride is going to start soon".

The group of six felt free to skip District 12. It was really just a black boy dressed in a coal miner's outfit with a girl who was dressed to look like coal, and the boy kept hitting her with his pickax.

 _I mean, I'm not a feminist by any means, but I think there's a certain amount of respect a male should have towards a female in public that this guy is NOT showing,_ Neo thought.

* * *

Once all of the tributes had gotten back in their chariots, it was time for the parade to commence. The stallions would take the chariots one lap around the oval before the tributes would be taken to the Training Center in order to begin more of their preparations for the Games.

The crowd was fired up and ready for the parade, as it was their first real exposure to the tributes. They wanted to know how they would react to being in the spotlight, because that was one important thing to remember about being in the Hunger Games. Even if you were alone in the arena, you were _always_ seen by the Capitol and the rest of the districts. There was no such thing as privacy.

The first chariot was District 1. The Capitol audience loved Sei, dressed in his tuxedo. Many Avoxes, servants in the Capitol who had had their tongues cut out for treason or other crimes against the government, also wore these suits, so some were reminded of their personal butlers. Ebony, on the other hand, was also seen as pretty beautiful, even if her costume was not the most modest. The actual girl, however, was slightly embarrassed to have the audience paying that much attention. She was constantly squirming, trying to get comfortable.

District 2 was not given as much fanfare, as their costumes were seen as a little bland. Scar felt that this was okay, since she'd never done this for all of the attention. Lance, on the other hand, wished that he could have gotten more attention with his blacksmith costume. Really, he wished that his costume could have been more original, but he'd take whatever sponsorship he could get as a result of this.

District 3 was next. Jiro and Panna elicited some eye-rolls and giggles from the audience, although their electrode costumes were pretty original. Jiro was disappointed that he could not be with the Careers, but he knew that he'd just have to find a way on his own. Panna was still looking in the other direction as her district partner, not liking the fact that Jiro Clermont had been stupid enough to think that he'd get to be with the Careers. As they passed the crowds, Panna waved to them, but it was clear that her heart wasn't really in it.

District 4 was very well-received. Many of the males in the audience adored Jenny's costume, since she was only wearing a skirt made of seaweed and a shell bra. The women, by contrast, were in awe at Sam, who was looking very hot in his Medium Sea Green cape and shell suit. Really, there was something for everybody in the costumes for the tributes from the fishing district.

As for District 5, there were a lot of laughs. They were taken even less seriously than District 3, and, really, why wouldn't they be? Tesla and Kidra were both wearing inflatable light bulb suits. It didn't get much sillier than that. As a result, some of the Capitolites who had brought food with them began to throw rotten tomatoes at the District 5 tributes. A few hit Kidra all over the dome for her upper body, but she didn't seem to care. Tesla, on the other hand, was shaking his fist at this treatment. It really was humiliating to have the Capitolites throw rotten fruit at you.

District 6 definitely looked like a cute pair. Cassia and Bretson were fine with this, even though the latter looked like he had just had a long, hard day at work. In a way, he had, since it took a while for the tributes to get fitted with their costumes for the parade. They received a lot of praise, including having flowers thrown at them. Bretson managed to catch one of the bouquets tossed his way, and he raised them into the air proudly, like a baseball player who had just caught a fly ball.

The crowd didn't like District 7 very much, just because their costumes were pretty typical. A lumberjack and a tree...nothing to see here. Fennal and Heather did look like they weren't getting along very well, so that was something that the crowd took note of. They'd also seen Fennal conversing with the Careers, so that was another thing that the Capitolites took into account.

As for District 8, they were also given little attention. A weaver and seamstress were typical costumes for the district, and they didn't really get too much fanfare. Bobbin was so small that she was clearly a twelve-year-old, and so there were some Capitol citizens who were crying, since there were few things as sad as a 12-year-old getting reaped. Most of them, however, were excited to see how she was going to cope with being in the arena.

District 9 gave the citizens a lot of laughs with their wheat costumes. Ollie was staring up at the sky, as if pleading with God to redeem him from this humiliation. As for Acacia, she was just staring blank-eyed at the audience, revealing that she didn't seem to be in a mental state to play and win these Games. Most of the crowd felt bad for her, but at least she was going to suffer an entertaining death in the Bloodbath.

District 10 got even more laughs than District 9. The steak costume that Neo was wearing looked downright silly, while Bonnie's milk costume was also very childish-looking. It definitely elicited some groans as well, although both of the tributes tried to stay positive. Their training scores were likely to matter more for sponsors, after all, than any silly costumes ever would.

District 11, the farmer and the apple, weren't noticed too much. Everyone had the costumes from 5 and 10 in their minds too much to even consider just how crazy these ones were, but these were still fairly childish. The crowd couldn't tell too much about Juliana, since so much of her face was covered by the large, inflatable apple costume.

As for the boy from District 12 as a coal miner, hitting the other girl with his fake pickax, that _really_ turned the crowd off. At this point, the Capitol audience was just grateful that the parade was over.

* * *

Once all of the chariots had reached the presidential palace, the President Of Panem, Coriolanus Snow, came out. Today, the small man was wearing a stark red tie in the front, trying to look like Donald Trump, the 45th President of the old United States. Of course, he could never get the hair right, but he had shaved off his beard due to the fact that Trump didn't have one.

Snow walked up to the microphone. "Here are the twenty-four tributes who, in less than a week from today, will be fighting to the death in the arena. These are your first impressions, but soon you are going to see more of them. Let the sixty-fifth annual Hunger Games begin!"

A little ways away, Glacier Jackalburg was watching the whole scene play out. With his bushy, light brown hair, styled kind of like a lion's mane, and his steel blue eyes, he was trying to look as forbidding as possible. The tributes couldn't see the Head Gamemaker, but he could see them.

Soon, all but one of these tributes would be dead. The thought gave him an adrenaline rush.

* * *

 **Okay, that's that for the chariot rides! By a little over a thousand words, this is the longest chapter yet! I'm proud of this accomplishment, for sure. In addition, we're over 1,000 views now.**

 **I'd love it if you would review and tell me what you thought of your tribute's costume. I put these all in a Google Doc and referred to it occasionally. The next update might be a little slower in coming, since I'm writing the Star Fox fic in conjunction with this one.**

 **All right. Also, I'm going to start doing question and answer. You may answer this question in your review.**

 _Question: What advantages or disadvantages would you have in the Hunger Games?_


	8. Training, Day 1

**Here it is! I'm only doing one chapter of normal training, and then it's going to be the Gamemaker sessions (along with a LITTLE more training) and scores. I hope you're going to be ready for an extra-long chapter coming right on the heels of this one, because that's going to be what you're getting, in order to make up for this one's short length.**

 **St. Elmo's Fire (the submitter of Kidra), said in his review that I should avoid talking about U.S. politics, but I just want to mention that you should be very careful about this new bill that still has to be signed by President Trump (but will be). It's about ISPs selling your personal information. Don't look up anything illegal, or give your password to any site without "https" in front of it.**

 _Answer: It's hard to say. I'm a bigger guy, so I could use brute force, but I'm not particularly strong. I'm okay at running, but not very long distances. I'm relatively smart, but maybe not smart enough. I'm just not sure._

 _Question: What are your favorite Hunger Games fanfictions?_

 **With all of that, let's jump into the chapter!**

* * *

The first day of training had arrived.

The tributes all spent the night in their respective rooms in the Training Center, but, once morning came, it was straight into preparing for the Games. They had three days of normal training, during which they were free to go from station to station, trying out weapons as well as edible plants stations.

On the third afternoon, each tribute would have a private session in front of the Gamemakers, after which they would be assigned a score between one and twelve depending on their skill. This was important, because scores determined betting odds, which determined sponsorships. Really, everything in the Hunger Games was based on the few days they spent in the Capitol preparing for them.

After all sitting in a circle and being briefed on the rules of training, the tributes were allowed to branch out and go to whatever stations they wanted.

Naturally, the Careers all went together, along with Fennal. They didn't care about the other tributes realizing that the District 7 boy was a part of their alliance. They were eager to flaunt it, showing that they had seven, rather than six, tributes.

"Okay" Sei said. The other Careers turned to look at him.

"What is it?" Scar asked. She didn't appreciate being told what to do by the District 1 boy, but this was clearly what he was getting at.

"We'll all go and practice at whatever we're best at" he said.

"Oh" Jenny said. Of course, that was what they did every year.

After that, Lance went off to practice his swordplay skills against a trainer. The trainer was giving the District 2 boy a run for his money, but he was still determined to improve his skills. There was no way that he was getting anything less than a ten.

Meanwhile, Sei and Ebony went together to the throwing knives. The targets here were in the shape of human beings, making it more realistic than one would normally have found in the Training Center, before the actual Hunger Games had begun.

Sei had to admit, his district partner might just be a little bit better than he was. He knew that, in the Hunger Games, he didn't want to be cocky, because that could end up being his downfall. Indeed, he'd trained his mind as well as his body, and he knew that this was the way many previous Careers had met their ends. He didn't want to be another statistic.

"Should we try to get that boy from District 6 in?" Ebony eventually asked him.

Sei didn't even have to consider it. "No. He's already with another group of, like, six. There's no way that we'd get him to join us without his whole alliance coming, and that just wouldn't work. Thirteen is _much_ too wide".

"I guess you're right" Ebony replied as she continued throwing knives.

* * *

The alliance of six was now converged at the fire-building station. Despite their earlier decision not to draw too much attention to themselves as a group, it had clearly not worked last night. Really, how else could they have worked it out in the line of chariots?

"This is going well" Juliana said as she worked on building a fire. Because she was from District 11, she knew more about nature than they did in more urban districts like 6 or 8, but that didn't really mean much, since you could never truly be prepared for the Hunger Games. Even so, she wanted to take control of what little she could.

Meanwhile, Bretson was feeling overwhelmed. Taysom had made it look so easy last year, but now that Bretson was actually in the situation of being in the Hunger Games, he was surprised the District 7 boy from the 64th Hunger Games had done so well. And, meanwhile, he was still trying to build a fire.

He knew that he wasn't going to be using this as his skill to show the Gamemakers. Being from District 6, a very heavily urban environment, Bretson had no realistic expectations that he was ever going to be able to get a decent fire going. He'd have to rely on Juliana or maybe Neo to do it.

"I'm going to practice at the warhammers" Bretson said. He figured that, with his brute strength, this was going to be his best weapon. He left the others to take up his preferred weapon.

He left Cassia, Neo, Heather, Juliana, and Bobbin at the fire station. They all knelt there, trying to make fire, until Neo said that he was leaving them, too. Pretty soon, the entire group had disbanded. They didn't want to make the Careers more suspicious than they had been already.

Neo was working on hacking dummies apart with his machete, hoping that he'd be able to show the Gamemakers that he was no slouch when it came to these things. Of course, he wasn't sure just how successful he was going to be, but he wanted to get a decent score in hopes of getting sponsors.

Cassia practiced her throwing knives alongside Juliana, although the latter told the former that she could also use them in melee combat. Cassia was taught how to use them in melee as well by Juliana, although the District 6 girl had to admit that she'd probably never be good enough.

* * *

As the Careers watched Bobbin pitifully practice with her blowgun, Sam took his turn with the spears. He tried hitting the dummy from five yards, something he did easily due to being from the fishing district.

Ten yards, and Sam was able to achieve the same result. Even so, he could tell that it was getting more difficult. He resolved himself to stay there until he could use the spear from twenty-five yards.

Suddenly, the Hispanic boy from District 5 came over and shoved Sam out of the way. "Hey, what was that for?" the District 4 boy said angrily.

"I want to practice with the spears" Tesla said. "There's no reason we can't share".

Jenny came over at that very moment. "What are you doing, Mr. District 5?"

"Excuse me, I just wanted to use the spears to practice".

"Well, my district partner was here first. Deal with it" Jenny said.

Tesla, somewhat dejected, left to try his hand at the edible plants station. Once there, he was joined by Rey, who didn't seem happy to be there. When Tesla asked Rey why he was there, then, if he wasn't happy to be, the District 11 boy didn't give him an answer.

The District 5 boy was pretty sure that Rey had volunteered for the Hunger Games, but why? As far as Tesla was concerned, volunteering was suicide. Then again, this pale, nervous-looking guy might have been one to feel that they should leave the world.

* * *

The tributes gathered for lunch in an adjoining room, where numerous fancy Capitol dishes were served. The Careers, including Fennal, all sat together. Bretson had told his alliance not to eat together, so as to not look like an alliance. They wanted to make the Careers think that there wasn't a six-pack alliance going on, and that this was all just a coincidence.

And so Neo sat alone. Eventually, he saw that the only other tribute not eating at a table with someone else was the District 5 girl. What was her name again?

Whatever. It's said that misery loves company, so Neo moved his plate of steak over to the blonde girl's table. Back in District 10, Neo had never really cared about girls, he'd always been focused on taking care of his brother. This girl, however, was drop-dead gorgeous, and Neo couldn't help but feel attracted to her immediately.

He didn't want to get too smitten, however, and he wasn't. He had seen how deadly the District 5 girl could be with knives. She never missed the target that he could see.

"What was your name? Kendra?" he asked the girl.

"Kidra" she said coolly. "For your information, I don't want to join your alliance, so I'd rather you didn't sit next to me".

 _Sheesh. I guess she's right, we'll probably both be dead within a few weeks,_ Neo thought. Even so, he figured that an alliance wouldn't hurt. After all, he had just joined a group of six.

What had he gotten himself into, though? That question remained. Did he want to end up in a six-way fight to the death at the end of the Games?

He shrugged that thought off, since the whole Hunger Games was essentially a 24-way fight to the death. As he saw Bretson talk with Cassia, he figured that it might be a good idea to check in with the District 6 boy after lunch. He wanted to make sure that the alliance was still on.

* * *

Later, after lunch, Warp was having a go on the obstacle course. He wasn't terribly strong, which should go without saying, but he _was_ fast, and was able to dodge the trainer's clubs easily. The Careers, who normally all made their attempts early, seemed to be waiting for longer than usual in order to do it this year. Warp wondered why that was, but he was glad to get a good time. He could only hope that he didn't embarrass himself with a score of 3.

Ollie watched him, eager to try the gauntlet for himself. He'd go right back to practicing with his scythe afterwards, but he was going to continue with this right now. While he waited his turn, he watched the dark-skinned boy from District 12 hit the girl from District 3. _Jesus Christ, have some manners,_ he thought.

Seriously, what was that guy thinking? All Ollie had seen Darros do all day was make fun of the other girls, as well as physically abuse them. He was surprised that the trainers had not taken him away yet, because that was the level this had probably gotten to by this point.

The ropes course was also in use. Jiro was trying to show off how strong his arms were, in order to win over the Careers, most likely. The District 3 boy knew that this was a long shot, that the makeup of the Career pack had generally already been decided by now, but it couldn't hurt to try, right? He felt that he had nothing to lose.

At the camouflage station, Acacia was painting herself into a tree, in order to try to look as much like a piece of nature as possible. Even though everything was covered in a slight haze for her, it was working. She could see her arm slipping away, as if it had never been there. Warp watched her, as he finished with the obstacle course.

* * *

"Hey. What's your name?" Panna asked the girl working on ropes right next to her.

"Kidra" she said, making a Prusik knot on the rope. Panna, meanwhile, was trying to fashion her ropes into a weapon her mother used in her career as a virtual cowgirl. She could tell that she was at least making _some_ progress. But she'd only get 15 minutes in front of the Gamemakers to practice with it, so she'd need to find a way to expedite the process.

"Do you want an alliance?" Kidra asked. She normally would have said no, but this younger girl looked so friendly. Something deep inside of herself told Kidra that someone who acted as nice as this was not to be trusted. Normally, she'd agree.

But this girl was just too innocent, and both of them had something in common...they'd been hurt by the Capitol. And, right now, they were paying the price for what their ancestors had done in rebelling against the Capitol. Going into the arena. To die.

"Sure" Panna said. She hadn't wanted to align with the Careers, but she was more than willing to help Kidra. "Let's go to the ropes course before the Careers do it".

The older girl nodded. "Before we go over there...I have a condition for the alliance".

"What is that?" the District 3 girl asked.

Kidra smiled. "We don't play this game by their rules".

* * *

 **I have no idea what a "virtual cowgirl" is supposed to be. It was my sister's idea, not mine. That girl can come up with some crazy ideas!**

 **In any case, remember to review, and remember that the next chapter might be quite a while. I might have an insane 20,000 words to write to get there, so tide me over with your comments.**

 **SnowLucario out.**


	9. The Gamemakers

**It's April, but spring has been slow to come to where I live. The New England winter just won't end. On a happier note, my brother's finally home from Canada, and I wonder what he thinks about his kid brother writing another SYOT. I bet he thinks I'm just a nerd. Speaking of my brother, he's sleeping on my top bunk tonight, so I moved my buff collection (up to 11). I'll post a picture of it on DeviantArt.**

 **It's time for the longest chapter yet. I hope that everybody is happy with the score they get, because not everybody could get an 8. Seriously, I got a lot of tributes with scores of 8 and attempting to join the Careers. Not all of those can be accommodated, nor would I want to. I also made a Google Doc of what each tribute is going to do in the Bloodbath. I already have it all planned out.**

 _Answer: The Hoprocker trilogy, by far. Seriously, READ THEM. FREAKING READ THEM. The Disastrous 42nd Hunger Games, Fire & Ice, and Final Judgment are their names. These are what inspired me to write this style of Hunger Games, because hers are in third person, which, in my opinion, is the best way to do this type of story by far. It feels so incoherent when you constantly switch first-person POVs._

 _Question: What country/region are you reading this from? You can just say the country._

 **All right. Let's begin the chapter!**

* * *

On the second day, the Careers all tackled the obstacle course. They were able to determine that Scar and Sam were the fastest among them, and so they would have those two be the first to run into the Cornucopia. In case there were any other alliances, or other tributes that were determined to fight in the Bloodbath, the fastest ones would be able to fight. It seemed like a pretty good plan.

Bretson's crew all talked to one another at various points throughout the day, but they tried to keep a low profile as always. Neo, personally, kept on thinking about how they would all manage to coordinate their plans once in the arena. After all, they would all be placed at different locations around the initial Cornucopia, so they would have to figure out how to make it all happen.

Not for the first time, as he was hacking away at dummies with a machete, he pondered how having a twelve-year-old, the youngest possible age of a tribute, in your alliance could be a very big liability. How were they supposed to trust Bobbin not to go whining to the Careers about how the big teenagers had mistreated her.

Immediately, Neo realized that that thought was ridiculous. It didn't stop him from having some reservations about this alliance, however.

Elsewhere, Panna and Kidra worked together at the dummies. Kidra was using her throwing knives, while Panna had finally figured out how to get her wire lasso to work. If she simply aimed for the necks of the dummies, she'd be able to work it so that she could strangle the other tributes, or else reel them in for Kidra to stab with her knife. It was going to work, their alliance. She was convinced of it.

Bonnie was working with her whip, while Rey threw knives right next to Panna. It seemed like things were going pretty well for everyone, and even the edible plants station was getting some use from Juliana. She had decided that this was the skill that she was going to show the Gamemakers. She wanted to get a not-too-impressive score on purpose, to show the Careers that she really was no threat, and then surprise them. That strategy had been used before; indeed, it could be argued that Paolina might have used _that_ as part of her strategy, although the District 11 girl seriously doubted it.

Fennal practiced with his axe, while Warp worked on his upper body strength with the ropes course. From far away, he could see Ollie working with his scythe, and his district partner working on the camouflage station. Warp wanted to tell the morphling addict that it just wasn't going to work if she didn't work on getting out of the Bloodbath zone quickly, but he knew that the District 9 girl was probably in her own world at that moment.

All in all, the training room was a mix of tributes, in various states of excitement and nervousness. Each of them was working on deciding their options to show the Gamemakers tomorrow. To determine their fate in the arena, potentially.

* * *

The following afternoon found Head Gamemaker Glacier Jackalburg walking into the usual dining room that was set up adjacent to the room in which the tributes would be showing off their skills. He sighed, not looking forward to the task at hand.

It had been boring last year. This time, he knew, it might be even more so. He was just so excited to get to the arena, it was likely his best yet. He knew that, if it was too boring, his life might be on the line. That was the way it usually was for Head Gamemakers whose Games weren't exciting enough for the Capitol.

"Good afternoon" said one of his assistants.

"You too" Glacier said, his mind on the buffet he and the others would get to begin eating once they got to the later districts.

He looked at the schedule for tributes.

 _1:00 PM- Perseus "Sei" Black, 18_

 _1:15 PM- Ebony Tartarus, 17_

 _1:30 PM- Lance Armstrong, 18_

 _1:45 PM- Scarlett "Scar" Slate, 17_

 _2:00 PM- Jiro Clermont, 16_

 _2:15 PM- Panna Sonic, 14_

 _2:30 PM- Samuel "Sam" Hatcher, 18_

 _2:45 PM- Jennifer "Jenny" Winters, 16_

 _3:00 PM- Tesla Mason, 17_

 _3:15 PM- Kidra Silvery, 18_

 _3:30 PM- Bretson Muller, 18_

 _3:45 PM- Cassia Haydn, 14_

 _4:00 PM- Fennal Undergrove, 16_

 _4:15 PM- Heather Aspen, 17_

 _4:30 PM- Warp Bobbin, 16_

 _4:45 PM- Bobbin Taper, 12_

 _5:00 PM- Olivier "Ollie" Maddox Roman, 18_

 _5:15 PM- Acacia Cooper, 16_

 _5:30 PM- Neo Falco, 18_

 _5:45 PM- Bonnie McFulton, 18_

 _6:00 PM- Rey Genger, 17_

 _6:15 PM- Juliana Elle Skythorne, 15_

 _6:30 PM- Darros Ashmore, 16_

 _6:45 PM- Annabeth Royceson, 13_

"A lot of eighteen-year-olds this year, I see" Glacier said. He himself was only eighteen years old, so there was that.

"Indeed" his assistant said. "And it is now one o'clock. Shall we allow Perseus in?"

"Yes" Glacier responded.

In walked Sei. The District 1 boy was filled with nervous excitement. He had an obligation to do well for the sake of his fianceé, and he was going to do absolutely everything to make his dream come true. But, in order to do that, he had to work for himself first and foremost.

"I'm going to demonstrate my skills with a sword" Sei said.

Glacier said, "Hey, Matt, are you going to spar with Perseus?"

"Sei" the tribute corrected.

"Yes, I will" the trainer identified as Matt said.

The tribute and trainer joined up with each other and began sparring. It was clear to see who was better. Even though Sei put up a pretty good fight, he was not quite as good at fighting as Matt was. The District 1 boy was really breaking a sweat.

After five minutes of sparring, Glacier said, "Good job. Sei, you may go now".

The District 1 boy left, to be replaced by the District 1 girl. Ebony walked in and immediately said, "Today, I will demonstrate my talents with both throwing knives and daggers".

"You may only select one talent to demonstrate" the Head Gamemaker said coolly.

Clearly displeased with taking orders from someone only a year older than her, Ebony picked up a sheath of knives and began throwing them at the target. They kept hitting, about nine out of every ten throws connecting. Clearly, this was someone who had had a lot of practice in a Career academy.

Ebony was skilled at knife throwing, and she knew it. When she was dismissed, she was pleased that she had probably achieved a 10, although she could never be a hundred percent certain of that. What she could be sure of was that she had done everything she could, and that was all.

Glacier sighed. Only one district down, and he was already bored as hell. _That food can't come fast enough,_ he thought.

Lance walked in, looking confident but not cocky in that way that only a trained Career could. This made Glacier optimistic that he would be more worthy than Sei was.

"I would like to spar with a trainer today" Lance said.

"Very well" said Glacier. "Tracie, you do it".

The trainer, Tracie, walked over to Lance and began sparring with him. Even though Tracie was trained, Lance was pretty good at parrying, and didn't come close to taking many hits. He was even able to hit the trainer in the armor a couple of times, and this made the District 2 boy pretty optimistic that he would get a ten. That was the score that all Careers strived for, because eleven was typically only for someone _really_ rare, and twelve was for someone that the Capitol _really_ wanted to make a target for some reason.

After a few minutes of this, Glacier said that Lance could leave, and the District 2 boy strode out of the room, satisfied that he had achieved that 10.

"Next tribute!" Glacier called. They were only an eighth of the way through, and that was unbelievable. He wasn't going to resign, since he enjoyed the rest of his job, but that didn't mean he had to like _this_ part.

Scar came into the room and selected a short sword, which Glacier was already starting to get a little sick of. _How many swords are we going to see today?_

The District 2 girl, unlike her district partner, did not request to spar with a partner. Instead, she worked on some dummies, hacking at them. Glacier supposed that she was good, great even, but he was already over it. This year, for whatever reason, he was even more restless than he had been last year, and he couldn't imagine why. He might have had ADHD as well as Asperger's, but he had never really cared, not thinking that it mattered.

Once Scar had gone through five dummies, Glacier told her that she could leave. Scar walked out, desperately hoping that she had gotten an excellent score. She wanted to show the other Careers that she was worthy, and she was in it to win it.

 _Only two districts down,_ the Head Gamemaker thought. It had already been an hour.

Jiro strode into the room and said that he was going to demonstrate his skills with a falchion. After Glacier said that this was okay, Jiro went over and grabbed the one-handed sword from the rack.

Glacier was about to ask the District 3 boy if he wanted to spar with a trainer, but the answer was clearly no. Instead, Jiro began to slice up some dummies, leaving a trail of stuffing in his wake. It was plain to see that he had been training, but not quite as much as the other Careers. _No wonder they wouldn't let him join them,_ the Head Gamemaker thought to himself.

After about five minutes of this, Jiro was dismissed.

In walked Panna. She didn't go over and grab a weapon. Instead, she just stood there, her cheeks bulged as if she was holding in a vast amount of water.

"Are you okay?" asked one of the trainers sternly.

Panna nodded, right before she threw up what looked like cough syrup. _She must have gotten it from the 3rd floor,_ Glacier thought. Really, anything was possible with this girl who had tried to make a wire lasso in training. Still, that made it obvious what score to give her. Glacier could barely suppress a laugh as he wrote it on his notepad.

Eventually, Panna looked back up at the Gamemakers, who dismissed her, very glad to have her gone. Really, she hadn't even been worth their time, just overdosing on cough syrup.

The next tribute, hopefully, was far more worthy. Sam from District 4 strode into the room and picked up a spear from the weapons rack. "I wish to demonstrate my capabilities with this spear" he told the Gamemakers.

"You may begin" said Glacier.

Sam reared back, pointing his spear towards the ceiling. Then, just like what he had done for so long, he threw it at the target, spearing the dummy through the heart from a distance of fifteen yards.

He kept on doing this, managing to hit nine out of the ten dummies that he threw at. He was pretty skilled, as if he'd been doing it for his whole life. Since he was from District 4, he probably had been.

When he was dismissed, Sam gave a bow before heading out the door.

He was replaced by Jenny. The District 4 girl had a hard time deciding between knives and spears, but she ultimately decided on the latter, but not before wasting three of her precious fifteen minutes paralyzed by indecision. Once she got ahold of those spears, she began with target practice.

Glacier was getting bored. Two tributes using spears, just like they had had a few use swords earlier. There was far too much repetition in terms of what weapons the tributes were using. Really, it was starting to get pretty tedious.

Once Jenny had made ten throws, only hitting with seven of them, she was dismissed. _No more Careers,_ Glacier thought. _Except that District 7 boy, but does he really count? Is he even with the Careers this year?_

The next tribute was Tesla of District 5. Wouldn't you know it, he also selected a spear. However, it was plain to see that he had only picked up this skill a few days ago, not having gotten too much training at all back in his home district. This boy bore all of the hallmarks of a reaped tribute.

By now, Glacier was sick to death of spears. He'd seen three tributes in a row use them, but Tesla was the least skilled. Really, that buffet couldn't come fast enough.

Tesla made sure that the Gamemakers were taking notice of him, however. He wanted there to be spears in the Cornucopia, and he knew that the best way to ensure that happened was to do well here.

After Tesla was dismissed, the food arrived on carts. A giant, well-done steak with ketchup, roasted potatoes, platters of vegetables, and various beverages. Glacier served himself, grateful that the food would provide a distraction from how boring this job was.

Here came Kidra. The District 5 girl said, "I will show you my skills with knives today".

She went over and grabbed a sheath of twenty throwing knives from the weapons rack. Holding them in her left hand, she transferred them to her right hand in order to shoot. It threw off her aim a little more than she would have liked, but this was the best way she knew to do it. Besides, she didn't want to get too high of a score anyway.

Kidra hit the target about half of the time. A few knives got stuck in the ground, while most of the rest of them hit the wall next to the target, which was lined with mats and thus wouldn't mark up the wall with any misfires.

When Kidra was dismissed, she felt good about her performance, reminding herself that she'd never wanted a ten.

Glacier watched Bretson, the very muscular boy from District 6, enter the room. Selecting a warhammer from the rack, he said, "I wish to practice with a trainer".

"Very well" Glacier said, his mouth full of potato. Once he had swallowed properly, he said, "Jeff! Do it!"

One of the trainers went over to the District 6 boy, grabbed a warhammer from the rack, and began to fight with Bretson. Even though it was plain that Bretson had only picked up that skill the other day, he was a fast learner. Parrying his opponent's moves with ease, he was nonetheless careful not to hit his trainer. Glacier was pretty impressed with the wrestling champion. At least, he was a wrestling champion according to the notes the Head Gamemaker had on him. Why hadn't he chosen wrestling?

Once Jeff had had enough, Bretson was dismissed.

Cassia was the next tribute. The District 6 girl, for a change of pace, decided to go on the obstacle course. She was pretty fast due to her small size, and was able to dodge the clubs of the trainers. Once she'd reached the other side, she ran through the gauntlet in the opposite direction.

"Hold up!" Glacier said. "You may go".

Cassia left the room, nervous about her score and wishing that she'd shown them her knife skills. Glacier, however, was just glad that they were halfway done. Twelve tributes down, twelve to go.

Before the District 7 boy could walk in, however, there was another disturbance at the door. An attendant rolled in a large yellow cake with white frosting and peach slices on the top.

"What is this?" Glacier asked. "I mean, I love cake and all, but why now?"

"To celebrate your second year as Head Gamemaker. Hopefully, this next arena is better than the last one".

The Head Gamemaker smiled to himself. He knew that this year's arena was going to be spectacular, but he wanted to keep it a surprise. It was always more fun that way.

Fennal walked in, the outer-district member of the Career pack. He selected three throwing axes before moving towards a target.

The first axe was thrown from five yards, and it managed to sink its way into the target. He threw the next axe from ten yards away, and the third axe from fifteen yards.

"We haven't seen enough" one of Glacier's colleagues said. "He needs to show us more".

Glacier addressed Fennal in saying, "You need to throw more axes".

The District 7 boy was happy to oblige, and he showed that he could throw axes up to about the 25-yard range. Even so, this was pretty great, and so Glacier had no problem giving him a ten.

The next tribute was Heather. She also selected throwing axes, but it was plain to see that she wasn't nearly as skilled as her district partner. She could only hit the target from about ten yards away. Not only that, but she accidentally pricked her finger a little with one of them. Overall, though, she didn't fall apart as completely as Elegance had two years ago.

As Glacier ate his second slice of the cake, the District 8 boy walked into the room. Warp went over to the rope section, looking as nervous as always, where he fashioned it into a lasso, or at least the best lasso he could. Once that had been done, he tried to lasso in a dummy, but he kept on failing.

Finally, the Gamemakers had seen enough, and so they dismissed Warp. The outer districts generally felt slower than the Career districts, but that was really because the Gamemakers were already so bored, and so excited at the idea of leaving the room, that it became harder and harder to judge the tributes well.

In any case, the District 8 girl came in. Bobbin would have liked to be able to use a blowgun, but they didn't have one. Instead, she ran the obstacle course, dodging the clubs of the instructors. She was pretty fast, so she had that going for her. At least she wouldn't get the absolute _lowest_ score.

 _Two thirds of the way there,_ Glacier thought happily. _There's a light at the end of this tunnel._

Here came Ollie. The District 9 boy selected a scythe and began swinging it around. Glacier was going to ask if he wanted to work with a trainer, but Ollie seemed to be working well enough on his own.

Even though the boy didn't have an _actual_ opponent right next to him, the teenage father was acting as if he did have an opponent, parrying invisible strikes from an invisible trainer.

After a few minutes of this, Ollie was dismissed, the tribute being satisfied that he had achieved a good score.

Acacia staggered into the room. Since there was no morphling easily accessible in the Capitol, except for in hospitals, she was experiencing a withdrawal. She wasn't happy about having to face the Gamemakers. Without the usual purple haze around her, she was having a hard time facing the day.

Even so, she was able to make an okay snare, and Glacier thought that this was pretty good for a morphling addict. Even so, if she couldn't manage to escape the Bloodbath first, she was going to get nowhere in terms of trapping any other tributes.

And, finally, they were three-quarters of the way through, 75% done with the tributes. Only three districts to go!

Neo walked in, and the District 10 boy immediately grabbed a machete. Hacking away at the dummies, he was breathing heavily. He wanted to impress the Gamemakers as much as possible, so he didn't give up. When his time ran out, he gave the Gamemakers a bow before leaving the room.

The next tribute was Bonnie. She wanted to use a spiked whip, but she only found a regular one in the weapons rack. She had to improvise, find some way to make the best of what she had.

She grabbed a dummy and fashioned a noose out of some rope. Hanging it from a beam, she knew that her time was almost up, so she had to work quickly. She began to whip the hanging dummy, much like someone might in an old Western movie.

Bonnie left after that, to be replaced by Rey. The District 11 boy stood there for a good two minutes before he ultimately decided on a knife. Hacking away at dummies just like Neo before him, he had managed to get through about two of them by the time Glacier told him to stop, that they had seen enough.

The cake was taken away, and Glacier was sipping a tall glass of root beer as the antepenultimate tribute came in. He was really glad that it was almost over. Just three tributes left.

Juliana, like so many other tributes before her, selected a spear. She wasn't that great at throwing it, but she was decently strong from working long hours in the orchards of District 11. She was focused on her aim, which she worried was more than a little lacking. She could hit the target from about ten yards away, so there was that.

Once Glacier said she could go, Darros walked in. On the way, he just slugged Juliana in the arm.

"You can go!" Glacier yelled.

"Who, me? Didn't you already say that?" Juliana asked.

"No, not you. YOU!" he boomed at Darros.

"What?" Darros asked.

"You are not allowed to harm another tribute until you reach the arena!" Glacier yelled. "Get out of my sight!"

The last tribute to enter the room was Annabeth. She looked around the room for a rock, but she didn't find one. When she was dismissed, Glacier was all too happy that it was over.

*****THE HUNGER GAMES ROCKS*****

Later, it was 8:00 primetime in the Capitol. This meant that it was time for the most important event in the Hunger Games yet, which was the revealing of the scores.

After this, all that was left would be the interviews and then the ball, which was not televised except for the annual dance. In any case, that didn't really matter right now, and most people in the Capitol just wanted Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith to get to the scores already.

Sometimes, the Capitol citizens were really impatient.

 **District 1**

"Our first tribute, Perseus Black...with a score of 8".

Sei breathed a sigh of relief. It could have been worse. He didn't think that it would have been wise to get a ten, anyways, since he might be seen as a threat within the Career alliance. He didn't want to take that risk.

Ebony giggled a bit, probably amused that her district partner had gotten such a low score for the Career, but this was quickly forgotten when her score was shown.

"Ebony Tartarus, coming away with a score of 10".

The District 1 girl was very pleased with her score. No doubt there were going to be throwing knives in the Cornucopia after she had done so well.

"Looking forward to getting into the arena?" she asked her district partner.

Sei nodded. He couldn't wait to bring some glory to his district.

 **District 2**

"Lance Armstrong, coming away with a score of 10".

"Yes!" Lance said, pumping his fist. He and Ebony were the strongest Careers so far, and he wanted to make sure everyone knew that. Even so, he wasn't _too_ cocky.

"Scarlett Slate, with a score of 9".

With an average score of 9.5, District 2 did seem to be doing better than District 1 so far. Looking over at her mentor, Scar could tell that Margaret was pleased with her. And, while the victor before the last one had gotten a slightly higher score, there was still potential that the 20-year-old saw in the 17-year-old.

"Let's do this!" Lance said.

Scar knew that she wanted to be able to support herself and her sister. In order to do that, she had to win, regardless of whether she had the top score or not.

 **District 3**

"Jiro Clermont, with a score of 7".

Jiro sighed. He hadn't done as well as the Careers, but hopefully he had done well enough to have a falchion appear in the Cornucopia. Now that he wasn't going to have the protection of the Career pack, he was starting to regret volunteering. However, there was always the fact that there were people with lower scores.

"Panna Sonic, coming away with a score of 1".

" _What?!_ " Jiro gasped, giggling. "How on earth did you get a _one_?"

"Dunno" Panna said. "I guess the Gamemakers just didn't like what I had to offer that much".

 _That's fair,_ Jiro thought. Still, he wondered what Panna could possibly have done to get such a bad score.

 **District 4**

"Samuel Hatcher, coming away with a score of 10".

Sam was relieved. He'd done as well as one could be expected to. He hoped that he'd beaten his district partner's score, just because he didn't want to lose to a _girl._ Even so, he wasn't as misogynistic as Darros. He didn't hit girls just for the fun of it.

"Jennifer Winters, with a score of 8".

District 4 had effectively done the reverse of District 1. Here, the boy had gotten a ten, while the girl had only gotten an eight. And so, Sam had expected Jenny to look disappointed, despondent even, at that revelation.

Instead, Jenny looked pretty happy. Sam could only assume that this would be because she wasn't likely to be considered the largest threat in the Career pack.

 **District 5**

Thanks to his rudimentary spear skills, Tesla had earned a 5. He couldn't have expected much more, just because of the fact that he'd barely had any practice with one besides what he had picked up in the Capitol. He just had to get in the Bloodbath and get it done without dying in the Bloodbath.

Tesla only hoped that his district partner would score worse than he did. Unfortunately, Kidra was one point above him.

Kidra was happy with her score. She only wanted an average score, enough so that she'd be considered worth sponsoring, but not enough that she'd be seen as a threat. She could live with a six.

"Looking forward to the ball?" Tesla asked Kidra.

Kidra didn't respond, only looking at him coolly. Eventually, Tesla gave up and sat back in the couch.

 **District 6**

Bretson regretted using a warhammer instead of his wrestling skills. He could have earned even higher than an eight, but he had to take what he got.

"Don't you worry you'll be a threat?" Cassia asked him.

"I'm not worried" he said. "There'll be other eights, I'm sure".

"Cassia Haydn, coming away with a score of 5".

Cassia sighed. She had at least done decently at the obstacle course, or else she wouldn't have gotten even that high of a score. She was still a little disappointed, but she had plenty of other tributes she could use as shields, in terms of having others think of them as bigger threats than she was. She could hope.

 **District 7**

"Fennal Undergrove, coming away with a score of 10".

Fennal's heart leapt. He'd managed to score on par with the best Careers, and he was now one of them. There was no way that they would not let somebody with a ten be a part of their pack, after all.

But he still had an angry district partner to contend with, so he sat back down and watched as Caesar announced that Heather had scored a five.

The two of them looked at each other, Heather unable to believe that her idiot district partner had scored twice as high as she had. She'd have to watch her back in the arena, that was for sure.

But for now, they sat on opposite ends of the couch, like a couple who are talking about getting a divorce. It was very awkward, and Heather was just looking forward to it being over, even if it did mean that she would be in the arena.

 **District 8**

Warp hadn't expected a good score, and so he wasn't surprised when it was revealed that he had only gotten a score of 3. Bobbin, on the other hand, had gotten a score of 4. Neither of them were really talking to each other.

Both of them were obviously worried about the arena, and, being two of the smallest tributes that would be in there, they had little reason to believe that they could end up victorious. Of course, anything could happen in the Hunger Games, but right now things were looking pretty bleak for the both of them.

 **District 9**

Ollie was anxiously awaiting his score. He hoped that his scythe skills might get him a seven or an eight, and he was very happy to see that he had scored an 8. He looked over at Paolina, annoyed once again that he was being mentored by a girl who was younger than himself.

Paolina also seemed to find this a little awkward. She looked pale the whole time...as if she was reliving when she had been shown her own score.

"Acacia Cooper, coming away with a score of 3".

Ollie was having a hard time deciding who looked worse: Acacia, with her symptoms of morphling withdrawal, or Paolina, who looked like she could use some herself with how nervous she appeared. Not for the first time, he cursed the fact that he had her as a mentor.

"It's okay, Acacia" the victor said. "I got a score of 4 and won. I didn't even have to kill anybody".

Ollie wondered how much of a comfort that would be to his district partner. Probably not too much.

 **District 10**

Neo had, thanks to his skills with a machete, garnered a score of 7. He was looking forward to showing his skills in the Cornucopia, although he didn't want to fight any more than necessary. In fact, he might even run away. It all depended on what order he found the other tributes in when they were lined up at the initial Bloodbath.

Bonnie, on the other hand, had earned a score of 4. She was pretty disappointed with herself. Maybe if she had worked a little quicker, she could have gotten something better. Thinking of the District 10 girl from last year, she knew that she didn't want to die in such an unmemorable way as Ryla had.

But she had control of her fate. She wanted to make sure that she kept control over her fate until the day she died, which might be only a couple of days from now. Even so, she knew that she would have a hard time keeping control.

 **District 11**

Rey was somewhat detached from this whole series of events. He was sitting back on the couch, waiting to see his score, not really caring. Her district partner was also sitting on the couch, anxiously awaiting her score.

When it was revealed that they had both achieved sixes, both District 11 tributes were relieved. Rey didn't have that many friends back at home in his district, so he didn't see anyone else caring too much.

Juliana, on the other hand, knew that there were people counting on her to get home. Clive, her father, and Lucas...yes, Lucas...

 _Maybe he'll love me if I get home,_ she thought.

 **District 12**

"Darros, you got a twelve!" Annabeth shouted. Her district partner, folding his Capitol clothes on his bed, ran into the room to look. Of course, he knew _why_ he had gotten a twelve, but he didn't feel bad about it.

Annabeth, on the other hand, had gotten the polar opposite score. She'd gotten a one. This wasn't surprising, considering that she had not even done anything in her training session. Really, she was just looking forward to it being over.

* * *

 **That's that! Only ONE MORE CHAPTER UNTIL THE GAMES BEGIN!**

 **And, I'll give you guys the poll results, which were for favorite character. I'm going to take it down now.**

 **1st: Sei with 3 votes**

 **2nd: Ebony, Scar, Heather, and Rey with 2 votes each**

 **6th: Kidra, Bretson, Fennal, Ollie, Neo, and Annabeth with 1 vote each**

 **Nobody else got on the board.**

 **All right. Remember to vote in the next poll, which will be about which story you liked better: Labyrinth or Lorax. Until next time, SnowLucario is out of here.**


	10. Margaret And Paolina

**Here we go! Once this chapter is out, I will more than likely hit 100 reviews! That's halfway to my goal, and I REALLY want to reach 200. Like I've said, I really do think that we can do it.**

 **After this, we're going straight into the Games! I'm so excited!**

 _Answer: I'm from the United States Of America. More specifically, I'm from the region known as New England, which is in the far northeast of the country. I carry a SLIGHT accent, but not much. We get a LOT of snow._

 _Question: Were you to live in Panem, what district would you live in, based solely on industry?_

* * *

It had come time for the last event before the main event, which was the tribute ball. All of the interviews had already been conducted and aired live, and so there was nothing left to do but a traditional dance routine and a buffet.

The cameras were to be turned on for this dance, but they would be shut off as soon as the dance was completed. Each tribute danced with their district partner, and they would hold hands in a do-si-do manner before walking to the edge of the stage. The boy would crouch onto his stomach, and the girl would plunge an imaginary knife into his back. The boy then did the same to the girl. The purpose of this was to remind the tributes that you couldn't trust anybody in the Games, not even your own district partner. Then, the 24 tributes would all come together in a circle, showing that all twelve districts were still united under the Capitol.

Of course, since most of the tributes probably hated the Capitol, this could be awkward, but it was mandatory. It was a pretty simple dance, anyways, so the tributes shouldn't have had any problems with it.

Sei and Ebony, despite having had a small argument on the train, were a pretty decent pair. They performed the dance effortlessly, and this was a good thing, since they were both going to be working together in the Hunger Games tomorrow. They looked in each other's eyes, and the audience in the Capitol was left to wonder if this was really an omen of the future, if the two tributes were likely to turn on each other like that.

Lance and Scar were not fighting at all as they performed the dance. Lance had a crazy look in his eyes, as if he was planning on turning on Scar, and the District 2 girl was a little wary of this. However, she didn't think that it really mattered. There were plenty of other enemies, like Bretson's group.

Jiro and Panna had had a very awkward relationship ever since meeting each other, and the dance was not something they liked. They were, of course, going through the motions as always, but it was plain to see that neither of them really wanted to be there. Now that Jiro wasn't a member of the Career alliance, he was just eager to get to the food.

Sam and Jenny were a more natural pairing, both being from the fishing district. Their dance seemed effortless, and the other tributes were trying to copy them, with little success. _Really, it's not like we're supposed to be friends,_ Jenny thought. _We're all going to turn on each other at some point._

Tesla and Kidra were looking at each other like a couple considering a divorce, they hated each other that much. Kidra was looking right into Tesla as though she was a tiger about to tear down its prey, while Tesla merely looked back at her angrily. Even now, they still had to go through the motions, just like everybody else.

Bretson and Cassia were actually having a good time dancing with each other. Bretson, Cassia had to admit to herself, was kind of like a brother figure to her...like Phoenix had been. She knew that one or both of them were going to have to die, but she could enjoy this night, right now.

Fennal and Heather hated each other, end of story. Heather wished she could kill Fennal right then and there. After all, that was one less tribute she would have to face in the arena...but did she really want to go home to her parents? Even so, she didn't see why her district partner would have decided to just volunteer and join the Careers like that.

Warp and Bobbin were only doing the dance because they had to, even though they didn't particularly have any beef with each other. Really, they didn't care. Since they were both so small, the odds were against either one of them winning, and both of them knew it. They were both looking forward to the party right after it.

Acacia was looking blankly at Ollie, which wasn't a surprise. The District 9 boy knew that the younger girl was clearly suffering from a morphling withdrawal, and was agitated. He was a little nervous about this, and he wanted the dance to be over with as soon as possible. He really didn't like being with this girl.

Neo and Bonnie danced awkwardly through the song, but they were still doing it. Of course, they had to. Neo, however, was keeping an eye on District 6, _really_ hoping that he would be able to trust them. If not, he was screwed.

Rey was staring at Juliana blankly, which worried the District 11 girl. She really did think that her district partner had some mental issues. Luckily, after tomorrow, she would most likely never see him again, so she could take some solace in that. Rey Genger really did make her feel nervous.

Annabeth _really_ hoped Darros didn't hit her. It was going to make a pretty big scene if he did, and that was one thing the District 12 girl didn't want. She couldn't wait for the dance to be over.

Finally, the song ended, as all twelve tributes got back into the circle. After this, they were all allowed to mill around the gardens until the ball ended.

 *******AT THE PARTY FOR VICTORS*******

Paolina was nervous. She was new to the community of victors, after all, and she didn't know if they would accept her as one of their own. There was one victor from District 10 who had never killed anyone, but even he had gotten into physical combat on one occasion.

She decided, once she was at the venue, to walk up to Margaret first. The District 2 victor was at the beverage table, sipping from a glass of nonalcoholic sparkling cider.

"Hey, Paolina" she said, sounding quite friendly. This wasn't the Margaret Paolina had seen on TV.

"Hello, Margaret" the most recent victor said back.

The two victors headed into one of the far corners of the ball in order to talk.

"You've got Lance and Scar tomorrow?" Paolina asked her predecessor.

"Yep" said Margaret. "And you have Ollie and Acacia. I'm sorry, but I don't have very high hopes for those two".

Paolina was incensed. "Are you meaning to say that I'm not a good mentor? I'm sorry, but you have not seen me in action". Paolina was not normally a person to get into a major verbal argument, but this was one of those cases.

"No" the older victor said, placing her hands in the air. "I'm merely saying, I don't think they respect you that much".

"Why not?" Paolina said.

But then, it hit her. She was only seventeen years old, younger than some of the tributes, and indeed the boy that she was mentoring. Ollie had gotten a pretty decent score, but Acacia had only gotten a three. She could assume, however, that she wasn't seen as too weak of a mentor. Of course, there were rumors that she was mentally unstable, but why would people think that?

And then, this other thought struck her. She'd won the Hunger Games last year at the age of sixteen. Now, she was forced to mentor other tributes from her district, hoping and praying that she'd be able to get them to survive the Games. She knew that the guilt was likely to eat her alive if she couldn't do this.

No wonder Margaret thought she was mentally unstable. Paolina was starting to think that she was right.

Tomorrow, she'd have to find a way to get her tributes out of the Bloodbath safely.

 *******AT THE PARTY FOR TRIBUTES*******

The Careers all gathered at the beverage table. As Sei sipped on his root beer, they discussed what they were going to do at the Cornucopia.

"We're all going to stay and fight, right?" Ebony asked.

"That was the plan" Sam said. "As far as I know, it still is the plan".

They all gave each other high fives at that, glad that they had put that simple part of their plan in motion for tomorrow. Of course, that was what the Career pack always did, but at least it was more cemented down now than it had been before.

"Let's go and party!" Lance said, chugging a glass of water.

Nobody had really gotten onto the dance floor yet, and it wasn't a surprise. Usually, the tributes wanted to get some dinner after the interviews; they were pretty exhausting to go through.

Elsewhere, Bonnie was eating a hamburger, which was made of genuine District 10 beef. Even though it was the livestock district, not too many hamburgers were eaten by the citizens of District 10. Just about everything they made had to go to the Capitol, even though many of the citizens were poor and hungry. She was appreciating this as much as she could.

She knew that, the next day, she would be going into the Hunger Games, something that only one person survived every year. She was worried about it, but she wanted to enjoy the present moment as much as possible. That was all she could really do, and she knew it.

Bonnie noticed her district partner, Neo, standing some distance away, talking with his huge alliance. She didn't regret not joining them; after all, there could only be one winner, and the District 10 girl really wanted it to be her. She couldn't form bonds with anyone.

Neo, a little ways away, was in discussion with his alliance. He wasn't even looking at his district partner. He was thinking more about Tyler, his brother, and how he had to get back to him. Bretson and the four girls were secondary to this goal.

"So...what are we going to be doing come time for the Bloodbath?" the District 6 boy asked his alliance.

"I'm not going in there" Cassia said. "I'll meet up with you guys somewhere else".

Cassia was a pretty fast runner, even though she was a fairly small girl. She wouldn't be good at fighting, and Bretson knew that. They could nonverbally come up with a place to meet after the Bloodbath, like Taysom and his alliance had last year.

"I'm also running away" Bobbin said.

"Very well" Neo said. "I'm running away as well".

"That's all very well and good", Bretson said, "but someone's going to have to get the weapons and supplies. I guess it's up to me, Heather, and Juliana".

"Not doing it" said Juliana. "It's just too risky".

"Me and Heather, then" the District 6 boy said. Man, his alliance really was a bunch of wimps.

"I'll go in with you, Bretson" the District 7 girl said. At least he had that person backing him up, although Bretson would really rather have had his entire group in it with him.

After that, the group disbanded, since they were careful not to arouse too much suspicion. The pair from District 6 hit the dance floor, along with the pair from District 4.

This time, luckily, there was no giant statue of President Snow made out of Turkish delight, which was a relief. Last year, Bretson thought to himself, the boy from District 6 had gotten incapacitated on the first day from eating too much of it. Really, that was a blessing.

Rey was standing in the middle of the garden, looking confused. In reality, he was thinking about the Games, and how glad he was to be out of his part of District 11. He might be likely to suffer a brutal death, but at least he wouldn't continue that brutal life. And, he was sure that his district partner probably felt the same way.

The party was pretty mellow, and not much of note was going on. Warp was standing awkwardly in the middle of the dance floor, looking for someone to partner up with. Eventually, his eyes alighted on Annabeth.

The District 12 girl looked bored out of her mind. Warp, on the other hand, was so nervous about his impending doom that he barely even cared. "Want to dance with me?" the District 8 boy asked her.

Annabeth said, "Sure. If it'll get me away from my asshat district partner".

Looking over at Darros, Warp saw what she meant. Darros was currently slapping Bonnie, even though the District 10 girl was older than him. He could pretty much count the District 12 boy out as cannon fodder, although he didn't know about the girl. Was she going to fight, even though she had gotten a one?

"How do you think you did in your interview?" Warp asked.

"I don't know" Annabeth said. "I hope I endeared myself to sponsors".

"Me too" Warp said. Then, trying not to stutter the way he usually did around girls, he said, "Annabeth...do you want to join an alliance with me?"

The younger girl immediately shook her head. "No thanks. It's everyone for themselves out there, and you know it".

Warp supposed she was right. Even so, it made him highly nervous, being out there all alone.

Ollie had managed to get Bonnie to dance with him, leaving Darros all alone, looking for some other girl to pick on. He settled on Heather, who was currently taking a piece of apple pie from one of the buffet tables.

As the evening wore on, each of the tributes thought about their own mortality a lot, knowing that it just might come tomorrow.

* * *

 **Couldn't bring myself to write any more. Next time, I might do interviews instead of this, or just include a section with Margaret, Paolina, and the winner of this one together.**

 **Like I said, remember to review and tell me what you thought. From here on out, the story will be updated every fourth day, assuming there is a chapter to put out. Because of my life, or the length of a chapter, I may not be able to do so. The next chapter will be a LOT longer than this one.**

 **BUT SERIOUSLY, I'M PROBABLY GOING TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK, I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE BLOODBATH!**


	11. The Bloodbath

**100 reviews and the Games are just starting! You guys are the best! The one from Alexandria160 cracked me up. I don't think I'm going to have a heart attack at my age, even if I do have a family history of high cholesterol.**

 **Here it is: the longest chapter yet, at just over six thousand words, it is the BLOODBATH! It is time to KILL SOME KIDS! Releasing this chapter a day early, because I don't want to update on the same day as Rise Of The Enemy. It'll be every 4 days until further notice.**

 **For the record, this arena is located in coastal Maine, near where my family vacations every summer.**

 **A quick word of warning: This is the Hunger Games, and your character will most likely die. If so, don't go yelling at the other submitters. Yell at me, because I'm the one writing the story. These deaths had nothing to do with the number of reviews the creators gave me, they were decided ahead of time. With that in mind, it's time to get into this.**

 **This time, there will be no sponsor system. I'll give the tributes whatever the plot requires. So don't even bother trying to sponsor a tribute.**

 _Answer: I'd probably live in District 4, or maybe District 7 if it's near the coast. These are two of my favorite settings, I just wish I could have both of them._

 _Question: What is your favorite song that sounds happy but is actually sad?_

 **IT'S TIME!**

* * *

Acacia woke up in the morning with a feeling of anger. Of course, this was nothing new to her; this was the feeling she always got when she was dealing with withdrawal from morphling, but that didn't mean that it was okay.

It was relatively early, about five in the morning according to the clock, but Paolina was already calling to wake her up. "It's time!" she yelled.

Even though Acacia was normally more "floaty", today she was lucid, as she had been for the last couple of days due to not having all of that morphling in her system. She wished that she wouldn't have had to go in the arena, but that was just the way it was.

At breakfast, she sat across from Ollie. Since they weren't in an alliance with each other (in fact, neither of them had an alliance at _all),_ it was a pretty awkward meal. They didn't look at each other. Instead, each of them were focused on eating as much as they could. Acacia was never that hungry when she was in a state of withdrawal, so she didn't eat that much. Her district partner, on the other hand, was shoveling down bites of pancake and sliced banana.

"Any tips for us?" he asked Paolina between bites.

"Stay alive" she said. "And be glad that the worst part is over".

"What do you mean?" Acacia asked.

"The ball was the worst part. If I never hear the song about how 36-24-36 is only acceptable if she's five foot three again, for the rest of my life, it could not come too soon".

Acacia laughed, knowing what song her mentor was talking about. Ollie, on the other hand, was far more serious. "I mean, at the Cornucopia. What do we do then?"

"Run away, that's what I did" Paolina said. "Really, I have a lot of faith in you guys. I'm eighty percent sure that one of you is going to be the victor".

Acacia really thought that her mentor was talking about her district partner, but she had to smile as well. Based on Ollie's facial expressions, although everything had been slightly muted for her on the train, he didn't appreciate having last year's victor as his mentor. After all, she'd never hurt anyone.

As they stood up from the table, in order to head to the hovercraft, Paolina stood behind them. The mentors would be transported to the arena separately, and the District 9 mentor really hoped that she hadn't just been telling a white lie.

* * *

The sun was just rising as the tributes gathered outside the hovercraft. They were all standing in a line, not really organized by anything, as an attendant injected a tracker into each tribute's arm. The purpose of this tracker was so that they were aware when a tribute died, and they made sure that nobody managed to escape the arena.

As Kidra saw the small red light underneath her skin, she let out a great sigh. This would be an obstacle in terms of escape, that was for sure. However, she was determined to not play by the Capitol's rules, in whatever way that could be accomplished.

Sei and Lance sat together by the window. Sei had insisted on having a window seat, even though Lance reminded him that the windows were going to be blacked out so that they couldn't see where they were being taken.

"I still want to" he said. And so Sei reluctantly agreed. He didn't want anything to divide the Career alliance before the Games had even begun. They watched the other tributes enter the hovercraft and get strapped into their seats.

The last tribute to board the hovercraft was Cassia. She wanted to take a seat next to Bretson, but the District 6 boy had already been surrounded by other girls. He had Heather on one side of him and Ebony on the other. The Career girl and Bretson looked at each other angrily, and Cassia wondered if this was going to culminate in an epic showdown, like last year's fight between Brett and Taysom.

Once all of the tributes had been secured in their seats and injected with the tracker, the hovercraft took off into the air. As soon as the countryside of what was once called Wyoming had receded, the windows were darkened.

The flight took roughly four hours, even though the hovercraft could fly at over 600 miles per hour. Tesla wondered where they were being taken? Maybe somewhere on the east coast of Panem? The Pacific Ocean?

He recalled the last two arenas, as most of the other tributes seemed to be trying to get a little more sleep. The 63rd arena had been underneath an area near District 9, while the 64th arena had been far to the south of here. According to one of Paolina's interviews she had given during her Victory Tour, the flight had taken about seven hours, although she'd been sleeping most of the time.

Pretty soon, most of the tributes had settled in for a nap. Ebony was still awake, and she was pretty pissed at Bretson for drooling on her. Even though he couldn't help it, not really, this was still annoying to her.

"We're landing in twenty minutes!" the pilot called over the loudspeaker.

Fennal woke up, jarring Sam right next to him. Pretty soon, a chain reaction had occurred, and all 24 tributes were awake once again. They looked around, and Bretson spotted that he'd slobbered on Ebony on accident. He tried to apologize, but the District 1 girl wasn't having any of it.

The tributes were led off of the flying vehicle into an underground hangar, and they were then led into different hallways.

Heather was led down a hallway with Neo and Cassia, but the paths diverged about thirty yards in. Each tribute was being led into their very own Launch Room, the underground maze of halls being constructed specifically so that no tribute encountered any others.

Darros wished that his stylist was a man, but she was still willing to show him the tribute outfit for this year. It consisted of a one-piece bathing suit with a personal flotation device constructed into it. He'd been swimming before, and there was a lake near District 12 where some of the wealthier families went to swim and fish. Some of those wore devices similar to this.

Years of watching previous editions of the Hunger Games made him sure that this was going to be a water arena. Why else would there be a life jacket in the outfit?

"Anything else, Darros? Do you want to have a little more to eat?"

"No" Darros said flatly. Unlike what he usually did, he didn't attempt to punch his stylist. Instead, he stood on his plate and simply waited to rise into the arena.

Eventually, the plate did begin to move upwards, and Darros found himself in what looked like paradise.

* * *

The tribute platforms were all set on a circle around the Cornucopia. The silver horn itself held backpacks and weapons as always, and it was located on a large patch of Light Green grass, approximately #91FD81. The field was dotted with palm trees, and the tribute platforms made a full three hundred and sixty degrees around it.

They appeared to be in some kind of archipelago. To the east, there was a large island covered in what looked like flowery fields, some kind of huge botanical garden. To the west, there was a landscape made out of trees with falling leaves, turning different colors- red, orange, yellow, just like a New England autumn that was shown in history books.

To the south, there was a landscape with pine trees and rocks, with seaweed and several rocky beaches. And, to the north, there was a large, snowy evergreen forest. The sky was a cloudless, beautiful blue, except for the section over the snowy island, which was purple.

Those weren't the only islands, though. Arranged around the Cornucopia's island were four islands, shaped like giant pizza slices. One appeared to be full of mangrove trees and sandbars. That one was located northwest of the central island. One was a swampy forest resembling Deep Darkness from _Earthbound._ One was a desert, with giant green cacti that reached up to twelve feet tall. The fourth was mostly underwater, but it was a large coral reef.

Most of the tributes had never seen anything like this. Even if you had been to District 4, you would not have seen so many different environments so close to each other. Of course, if only it was under different circumstances...

 ** _25_**

Acacia was just glad that she was able to see the arena in its full color, rather than the normal purple haze she was accustomed to. Looking at who was next to her, Bretson and Juliana, she decided that she was going to try and run away. The only problem was, she couldn't swim. However, she'd have to find a way, because Sam was two plates to her left.

 _ **24**_

Juliana looked at Bretson two plates to her right. Good news. Then at Sam one plate to her left. Bad news. She was running away, and hoping that Bretson and Heather could bring them the weapons they would need to fight off the Careers. An awful lot of the plan was riding on the shoulders of two of their alliance members. She didn't feel good about it.

 _ **23**_

Scar had Ebony to her left. They could do this! That District 11 boy, the one on the other side of her, was going to be no problem. If Rey was mentally ill, he'd be easy to knock off. Besides, it wasn't like they had anything to fear from this Bloodbath. They were _Careers!_ Even so, she really hoped she'd be able to get back to Blakely...so much was depending on her...

 ** _22_**

Jenny was ready to spring into action. Her eyes alighted on a spear in the Cornucopia, fairly close to the center. Looking around for any obvious targets, she saw Warp to her right. He wasn't the biggest threat, but he'd have to do. Kidra, too, on the left, would be possible to kill. She had to make the decision quickly, because the time was running down.

 ** _21_**

Lance was very confident. He had two of the little girls, Bobbin and Annabeth, right next to him. Neither of themwere likely to fight, and would instead try to run away. That was the good news, and that was also the bad news. Of course, he also didn't have any enemies nearby, but he _really_ wanted to get rid of Jiro. That wannabe Career was going to be stealing airtime from those who really deserved it!

 ** _20_**

Rey looked around, trying to find a place to go. The flowery fields kind of reminded him of District 11, but District 11 was bad. He set his sights on the island to the far north, to the snowy island. It was at his back, too, so it would be easy to get away from the Bloodbath. The only problem was, he'd have to go through the swamp first, an idea he didn't really fancy.

 ** _19_**

Warp was frightened. He had a Career one space to his right, Jenny, and two spaces to his left, Scar. He felt surrounded. And he had no allies...and he couldn't swim. Nothing here really reminded him of District 8, but he had to figure out a place to go soon. He spotted a kayak tied to a palm tree, though...he was going to go for that, even though he had never paddled one before.

 ** _18_**

Cassia was happy to find that she had been placed between two members of her own alliance. And her district partner was going to be doing the work in the Bloodbath for her. She should have been relieved about that, but she wasn't. She didn't want to leave without Bretson, but he was going in and fighting. Assuming they both survived the next hour, he was going to be incensed at her...she was going to hide behind a tree.

 _ **17**_

Jiro was willing to knock off Annabeth and Panna, who were both right next to him. But what was he supposed to do after that? The Careers didn't have his back. None of these environments looked particularly welcoming. And he didn't spot a falchion anywhere in the pile. He'd have to look for the next best thing, he supposed, and he didn't know precisely what that would be.

 ** _16_**

Ollie had to get away from Ebony. Hopefully, she'd still be mad enough at Bretson for drooling on her, but he doubted it. He wanted that scythe, and he was going to do what it took to get to it. He said a quick prayer, then he remembered that he should be standing. He wanted to get back to his children. He was probably the only parent in here, after all. If only they knew...but, he reminded himself, it probably wouldn't make any difference, or even make him more of a target.

 ** _15_**

Bonnie was right in between Ollie and Neo. Since Neo and Heather were next to each other, and both affiliated with Bretson's group, she knew that she had to be careful. Looking around at the desert, she decided that this was what reminded her most of District 10. The only problem was...she wasn't confident in the water. Could she look for a whip? Or a boat?

 ** _14_**

Heather had nothing to fear. She was in between Neo and Cassia, both members of her alliance. There was no way that either of them were going to kill her this soon. Even so, she was a little nervous at the thought that she was partly in charge of getting the weapons for her group. _Hammer, knives, hatchet, machete. Hammer, knives, hatchet, machete._ It was like a mantra, a chant...like a prayer. Heather didn't believe in God, but if there was one, she did need Its help.

 ** _13_**

Sei was placed with Fennal to his right and Darros to his left. All guys. He knew that the District 12 boy would be a fan of that, but Sei would have liked to have Ebony, Lance, or Scar near him. Still, though, Fennal was a Career, and Sei was going to take all of the help he could get. They would need to knock off as many outer-district tributes as they could before the Bloodbath was over.

 _ **12**_

Bretson wiped the sweat off his brow. It was all on him and Heather. He wanted that hammer badly, and he didn't see anyone near him who would be a threat. Panna, the girl from District 3, had gotten a pathetic 1. And he knew that Acacia was a morphling addict, not a threat at all. He pointed his feet into the center of the Cornucopia, ready to run as fast as he could...but he was built for strength, not cardio.

 ** _11_**

Tesla was surrounded by Careers. Part of the Bloodbath certainly seemed to be luck of the draw, in terms of where you would be placed, which was something Tesla tended not to like. He supposed that it was his punishment for underage drinking. Even when your father was a Peacekeeper, he supposed, you couldn't get away with everything. He really wanted that spear, but was it worth the risk?

 ** _10_**

Darros saw Kidra to his left. He was going to hit her. That was all he cared about. Screw all of these weapons, he was going to hit Kidra. That was the way it would go. He turned his body to face the District 5 girl.

 ** _9_**

Bobbin had to be careful of Lance. She was running away, and she felt that the District 2 boy was going to be drawn into the horn to pilfer the supplies before they ran out. Therefore, she had little to worry about. Except, of course, for joining up again with her alliance. She'd have to figure out a way to send a signal to them. Looking at the kayak near her, she wondered if she could untie that...but she wasn't leaving without some other member of her alliance.

 ** _8_**

Panna didn't think her mother's job as a virtual cowgirl was going to help her here. Looking around for rope, she couldn't find any. She would need to find a way to get to Kidra, in order to escape with the District 5 girl. Unfortunately, Kidra was nine plates away from her. The Gamemakers had really given her a rotten deal. Still, they were going to find a way.

 ** _7_**

Ebony was feeling good about the battle. Those throwing knives were hers; she saw a vest with her name on it. And she had Scar to back her up, too. This was going to go pretty well. Hopefully, this Bloodbath would be better for the Careers than it had been last year, when there had only been six deaths. She had to help make it be so.

 ** _6_**

Kidra hated Darros with a passion. He reminded her of some of the worse men she'd slept with, and he didn't seem to have any respect for _any_ women at all. Looking for Panna, she saw that the younger girl was far away from her. So far away, in fact, that she'd have to run _through_ the field to get there if she didn't want to chance running through the sand. She only had five seconds to decide on a course of action.

 ** _5_**

Sam wanted to get Juliana. Taking out a member of Bretson's incarnation of an underdog alliance was all too appealing. Still, the District 11 girl wasn't really _that_ important of a target. He wanted to get Bretson, to kill off the head of the snake, as it were. And the District 6 boy was only three plates to his right. He could do this! He could.

 ** _4_**

Fennal was glad to see that he'd been placed next to Sei. Hopefully, this would work out well. He'd show the other Careers that he was worthy of being one of them. Maybe he'd even get a kill or two in the initial Bloodbath. No matter what, he was ready to go. He just wished he didn't have to wait three more seconds!

 ** _3_**

Annabeth knew this was probably it for her. She didn't have that many plans, she'd never thought she would be in the Hunger Games to begin with. Could she find a rock around here somewhere? She couldn't swim; she wasn't making it out of here without a boat. The only question was, where could she get one?

 ** _2_**

Neo was directly at noon on the clock, the cold island at his back. He didn't know where he would be going with the rest of his alliance, but he managed to catch the eyes of Heather. He nodded towards the snowy island. This was where he wanted to go. He just wished there was a more reliable way to communicate, without letting the Careers know what they were up to.

 **1**

Most of the tributes were facing the Cornucopia in order to run in and grab something. A few were pointing away from the silver horn, but one thing was clear: They were about to enter a fight for their lives.

 **HHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNNNN**

There was the gong, and Darros was sprinting off of his platform. He managed to latch himself directly onto Kidra, who was running in to find Panna.

"Get...off...me!" Kidra shouted, not caring if someone else heard her. Really, she hated this guy. Darros Ashmore needed to get off of her! She got that it was the Hunger Games, but at least kill her with a normal weapon!

Sei came running into the Cornucopia, seeing Jiro in there as well. The other tributes were also running in, but Sei met his district partner there.

"You take 3, I'll take 12!" the District 1 boy yelled. He found his one-handed sword in the pile of weapons and began running back out of there, seeing that Darros was still on Kidra.

With one quick swipe of Sei's sword, Darros Ashmore was parted from Kidra Silvery. He lay on the ground, dead, practically sawed in half by the blade. He then turned his attention to the girl he had just saved.

Staring at Kidra, he swung his sword at her, but she was expecting it. She managed to dodge and run away. Deciding not to waste any more time, Sei ran back into the Cornucopia, looking at his district partner.

Jiro had gotten ahold of his falchion, but Ebony had quickly found a vest of knives. Careful not to let herself get cornered, she put it on and began throwing them at the District 3 boy. Jiro tried to deflect them with his sword, but he was ultimately overwhelmed. One of them hit him right in the noggin, and he fell over dead.

"Let's get some more!" the District 1 tributes said in unison.

Elsewhere, Sei spotted Warp, the tiny boy from District 8. He'd found the kayak he was looking for, and was furiously working to untie the knots. There was a paddle there as well, and if he was able to get that down, he just might be able to escape the District 1 boy.

Sei didn't want to let that happen. He swung his sword with deadly precision, but Warp was able to dodge. In the end, however, the younger boy was too fixated on trying to get the kayak loose, and he was soon cut down by the older boy's sword.

 _I'm on a roll!_ Sei thought to himself. He couldn't celebrate, though. There were still other tributes to fight off.

Heather and Cassia had met up, and they were now holding hands as they prepared to escape. Panna and Kidra had also met up with each other.

"I just barely escaped the boy from District 1!" Kidra told Panna. "We've got to go! I'm not the best swimmer, but these things have flotation devices in them. We'll be fine!"

Panna wasn't so sure, but she allowed Kidra to lead her into the water by the hand. Lance and Scar had both acquired their swords by this point, but they were too slow to get the pair of girls. Kidra and Panna swam away in the surf, heading towards the swampy island, if you could even call it an island.

Lance saw Heather and Cassia right together. He needed to break up that group, or at least have them both be together in death. Seeing that he was coming for her, Heather ran away from her alliance-mate, but Cassia now had to run to get away from Lance.

Meanwhile, Bretson, not the fastest tribute in this arena, had managed to get to his hammer in the middle of the Cornucopia. Heather also had the machete for Neo, who had joined Cassia in hiding behind a tree with a kayak tied to it. Both of them were wishing to escape the Bloodbath, preferably with their alliance intact.

Bretson began to quickly lumber out of there, carrying his hammer. Looking around, he saw that his district partner was crouching behind one of the palm trees. He noticed that there was a kayak tied to it.

"Let's get the kayak and get out of here!" he yelled. "Where's Neo?"

"I don't know!" Cassia said. "Bobbin wants to go over to the mangrove island. Let's follow her. I can swim, how about you?"

"I can't" he said. "We need that boat. Where's Heather?"

The District 7 girl was currently engaged in a duel with Tesla, who had found his spear. Heather still hadn't found her hatchet, so she knew that if she didn't do something soon, this was not a fight she could win.

Neo had timed his entrance into the Cornucopia perfectly, running at the most opportune time. He hadn't originally planned on going in there, but he couldn't depend on his alliance for everything. Sometimes, you had to make your own moves.

He saw Ollie right next to him. It was going to be scythe versus machete. At least, it looked that way until the District 9 boy ran away. Neo knew that he wasn't going to be away forever. Someone else was going to get him. Really, it was his own fault for not joining Bretson's alliance, although the District 10 boy was questioning his own decision every single day.

Lance ran over to the pair from District 6. Heather was nowhere to be found, but the District 2 boy assumed that she was looking for a backpack of supplies. That was often what tributes were looking for when they died in the Bloodbath, so he wouldn't have been surprised.

Cassia let out a yelp as Lance's sword pierced her heart. She lay on the ground, blood squirting from her back.

"Oh, it is _on!"_ Bretson yelled, swinging his hammer at Lance like a baseball bat. The Career had to duck in order to dodge it, and he was then running back into the fray, looking for more targets.

Bobbin was still with him; she was grateful to Bretson for protecting her from Lance. Now, if only they could get Neo...

The District 10 boy came running. He looked out of breath, as if he'd just been doing a 100-meter dash...which, of course, he probably had been.

"Where's Heather?" Bobbin asked.

"Don't know" Neo said. "And we still need Juliana. Where is she?"

"I'm right here!" Juliana piped up. The District 11 girl had been hiding behind a palm tree, hoping that she'd blend in due to her skin being darker than most who weren't from her district. Clearly, it had worked.

Bretson's group couldn't waste any more time. "Let's go now! I'm working on the knots!" he said, sweating as he undid them. The sweat was coating his fingers, making it more difficult to do fine motor skills such as this, but he was making more and more progress.

"Without Heather?" Bobbin asked.

"Yeah" the District 6 boy said. "Sorry, but the four of us have no time to lose. We have to get out of here!"

Bobbin looked as though she was about to protest, but she wasn't going to win an argument with a semi-professional wrestler. Once Bretson was finally done with the kayak, they pulled it into the water and got in, with the two boys paddling and the two girls sitting back, leaving Cassia behind.

Heather, still going one-on-one with Tesla, watched them go. They were leaving...without her. It was the worst sight in the world.

And it was even worse than that, because the time she spent looking at them leaving was enough time for Tesla to spear her like a fish. Dripping in blood, Heather's corpse sank to the ground.

 _I just killed someone,_ Tesla thought. Expecting to feel either guilty or excited, he was shocked at how apathetic he felt. But he had to find a way out of here now that he had his weapon. He couldn't swim, but there might be a raft in there somewhere.

 _A-ha!_ he thought, seeing a kayak tied to a palm tree. He had never paddled one before, but he could guess how it worked. He quickly began sprinting over there.

In the meantime, Lance was still on the hunt, as were the other Careers. The pair from District 4, Sam and Jenny, both had their spears, and they both wanted to find more targets. Jenny was mainly waiting for people to come to _her,_ but Sam was being far more aggressive. Seeing the girl from District 10, still on her platform, having been there for quite a while by now, he went to target her.

Bonnie had been biding her time on her platform, waiting for the perfect moment to get in there and start looking for a whip. Unfortunately, she now no longer had that opportunity. Running for her life, she managed to catch a glimpse of one, but not a second later Lance had parted her head from her body with his sword.

"HEY! She was mine!" Sam complained.

Lance shrugged his shoulders. "Does it really matter? Time is of the essence here".

"Suppose you're right" Jenny said. "Come on! Let's go look for others!"

At the start of the Bloodbath, Annabeth had run to hide behind a palm tree. Ebony was looking for targets, and the pitiful little girl from District 12 caught her eye immediately. She considered letting Annabeth go, just because she was clearly not a threat, but ultimately decided against it. If they could just get as many other tributes as possible, that would be a big help.

Ebony's knife was thrown. It implanted itself in Annabeth's back, and she crumpled to the ground. Taking no time to celebrate, the District 1 girl continued circling the Cornucopia, looking for someone else to off before they all escaped.

Jenny found the pitiful girl from District 9, the morphling addict, hiding behind a bush. Clearly, Acacia had been trying to camouflage herself, maybe set up a snare. Whatever the case, she was most likely trying to play defensively rather than offensively, and so she had been foolish to stay there for too long.

The yellow-skinned bag of bones barely managed to get out of the way when Jenny threw her spear at her. Cursing, the District 4 girl picked up her spear from the ground, but Acacia was already fleeing. Evidently, she'd figured out that a life jacket was concealed underneath the tribute outfit.

Acacia reached the water and began doggy-paddling out of the Cornucopia region, but she didn't get very far. Soon, an axe was buried in her back.

Fennal came out from behind a tree. "Where have you _been_?" Scar shouted.

"Biding my time" he said casually, as if he was saying what he was going to have for dinner that night. Scar was beyond pissed off at that, but she didn't kill Fennal. Now was not the time for that.

"Well, thanks for getting the druggie" Sam said. "There are still a few in there. Clearly, since the cannons haven't gone off yet. How many are dead?"

"Hard to say" Fennal replied. "At least six. And they're still fighting!"

The Careers re-entered the fray, and they saw Ollie grappling with Tesla. They were playing tug-of-war for a red backpack that probably held some kind of supplies.

"We want that pack!" Sei yelled.

Ollie began to run away, but Ebony managed to land a knife in his right arm. This didn't bring him down, but it did manage to shock him for a moment. Then, the District 9 boy decided he had to get out of there. He dropped the red backpack and began running into the ocean, trying to swim away.

He didn't get very far. Ollie's red blood was staining the ocean, turning it purple. At first, he'd been wondering why the ocean was so warm. When he'd felt it earlier, the ocean had been pretty cold. It was only then that he realized that the warmth was coming from his own blood, and that it was starting to attract sharks.

Here came a great white shark. Before Ollie, Tesla, or any of the Careers remaining on the Cornucopia island, could say anything, it had torn Ollie's leg clean out of socket. Blood came rushing en masse, and he was too weak to continue swimming away as the shark tore him limb from limb, every drop of blood staining the water a deeper purple. Eventually, the shark crushed his body with its teeth, to the point that Olivier Maddox Roman was no more than a head.

Tesla was now galvanized into action. He tried to get away, but his efforts did not yield any fruit. In much the same fashion as several other tributes, he was quickly speared by Sam. The District 5 boy crumpled to the ground as he expired.

"Was that everybody?" Lance asked.

Just then, the cannons started firing, confirming that the answer to this question was yes. The Careers all stood there, counting the exact number.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine.

"Ten" Scar said. "We got ten. Well done, guys!"

The Careers gave each other high-fives. Ten tributes dying in the initial Bloodbath wasn't bad. That was if you were the Careers. For those from the other districts, ten was very bad indeed.

"Let's each get a backpack" Sei said. "We'll need some supplies. Then, let's go hunting some more. They can't have gone too far".

The Career tributes all went back to the Cornucopia, and the seven of them each picked a backpack. Then, they decided to divide up.

District 1 would go to the desert island to look for tributes, while District 2 would be going to the mangrove island. District 4 would be going to the swamp, and Fennal would stay and guard the supplies.

"Let's meet back here before the anthem begins" Sam told them.

The others all agreed. And yet, as Sam joined Jenny in swimming towards the swampy island (if you could even call it an island), he started to wonder if leaving Fennal to guard their supplies was really the best idea.

* * *

 **RIP Bloodbath tributes. I changed the order the tributes would go down a little bit, but for the most part this was decided several weeks ago. I also tentatively decided who would kill each of the Bloodbath tributes, and I randomly chose the starting points for each tribute and which second of the countdown each tribute would get.**

 **As for the obituaries, it'll be just like it was in Lorax. I'll only show the dead tributes once they are shown in the sky. At this point, I'm thinking that the next chapter is likely to feature the rest of Day 1, and then the obituaries will be at the end of that. That's how it's going to be.**

 **Please leave a review! We're halfway to the goal, and I'd love to know your thoughts.**


	12. Compass Rose

**There's been some news lately, with Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the Supreme Court. As I upload this, he's being sworn in. While I will not talk about my political views here, it's definitely big news. But that doesn't really matter.**

 **Some people take their morning coffee with pastries. I don't drink coffee at all, but you get this instead of pastries to go with your coffee. You get some more SnowLucario Hunger Games.**

 **If the last chapter was the longest one yet, this one is quite a bit longer. You may hate me for this, but here we go. The ridiculously long second chapter of the actual Games. I hope you appreciate the EarthBound reference contained within!**

 _Answer: My favorite such songs include Semi-Charmed Life (Third Eye Blind), Wonderful (Everclear), Hey Ya (OutKast), Fallen Leaves (Billy Talent), and Ghost Ship Of Cannibal Rats (also Billy Talent)._

 _Question: How long do you like to read/write chapters? As in, how many words?_

* * *

Panna and Kidra were miserable.

They'd escaped the Bloodbath, and Kidra supposed they should be grateful for that. That didn't change the fact that they had nothing. No food, nothing. The District 5 girl wondered if the District 3 girl was dragging her down in terms of sponsors due to her low score of a 1. She really hoped not.

On top of that, they were entering the swamp. Really, it wasn't an island, nor was it a part of the ocean. It could be considered to be in its own category entirely, with its tall trees with muffin-top boughs, warm, murky water, and mosquitoes. They were swarming by the hundreds. Hopefully, they weren't carnivorous. Luckily, Kidra didn't think so. After all, the Gamemakers wouldn't have wanted them to die that quickly...would they?

Panna was reminded of the swampy area from _Earthbound,_ Deep Darkness, an area of teal water placed near the climax of the game, when you have six of the eight Your Sanctuary locations. _Do we need the Hawk Eye to see here?_ she thought to herself.

And then the cannons came. Ten in total, ringing out, each one signaling a death.

"Just fourteen of us left" Panna said.

Kidra wasn't focused on that. She was trying to stay afloat in the thick, murky water. She'd told the younger girl that each suit was equipped with a life jacket. Now, she wasn't so sure. She tried not to panic, but she wasn't the best swimmer.

Seeing that the older girl was struggling, Panna said, "Just try to bob under. We're over a point that's got to be at least seven feet deep, aren't we?"

Kidra took a deep breath before pushing herself underwater. Sure enough, she popped back up to the surface like a cork.

"See? You were right".

The District 5 girl shrugged. "Come on. Let's put as much distance between us and the Careers as possible".

Panna couldn't argue with that. The two girls continued, half-wading, half-swimming, until they saw someone new.

A pale boy was sitting in one of the branches of a tree, a good ten feet above the water. Neither girl could completely understand how he'd managed to get up there.

"It's Rey!" Panna exclaimed.

The District 11 boy smiled down at them. "Hey. You've found me".

"Enough games" Kidra said. "What are you doing here?"

"The same thing that you're doing. Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother, you've just got to stay alive".

"Fair enough" the District 5 girl replied. "But how do you think that could be accomplished that way?"

Rey shrugged. "I don't know. I just don't think the Careers will come looking here".

"You heard the cannons" Panna said. "The Bloodbath's over. You've better run. At least some of the Careers could be coming soon".

"Sure" the boy said. "Let's make a deal. If you don't tell anybody you've seen me, I won't tell anybody I've seen you. You cool with that?"

"Sounds good" the District 3 girl said. "Come on, Kidra. Let's go".

"I'm going to the winter island" said Rey. "I don't think they're going to look for me there. You do realize that the islands are based on the four seasons, right?"

Panna had come to that conclusion already, as had Kidra. It had been painfully obvious from the moment they'd risen into the arena on those plates. Really, there was no way it could have been missed.

"Well, see you later" the District 5 girl said. "Come on, Panna, we've got to get out of here".

The younger girl didn't argue. They continued trudging through the swamp, climbing over and under branches. The area was absolutely disgusting.

"Where are we going?" Panna asked her ally.

Kidra pointed to their right. "The spring island" she said. "We should get as far away from Rey as possible".

And so they made their way through the trees, which was easier said than done. The woods were very thick, and so they were hopping from tree to tree more than anything. They wanted to make sure that they spent as little time in the swampy water as possible. Hopefully, there wouldn't be too many infections there. Kidra remembered the factory smog that had killed her mother...

 _No,_ she thought. _This is the Hunger Games. We can't dwell on the past. We've got to focus on what's going to happen now. We need to get away from the Careers._

And so, grappling with all of the tree trunks, the two girls managed to reach the ocean again. It was going to be a tough swim over to the spring island.

* * *

Bretson, Bobbin, Neo, and Juliana had reached their goal; the mangrove island, or a section of it, anyway. None of them had ever been to the tropics before, but if they had there was a good chance that they might have seen some of these.

"We're about to go in" Neo said. "Let's be careful; we don't know what's in this water".

"You're scaring them, Neo" Bretson chided the District 10 boy.

"I'm just being realistic!" Neo cried defensively.

Neo and Bretson were the ones paddling the kayak. Even though it came with oars, there were only two. Juliana and Bobbin were kind of just there for the ride, not really doing much. The four tributes, however, knew that the Bloodbath was over. They'd heard the cannons. And they had to get out of there before the Careers came looking.

It was tough going getting the kayak through the mangrove forest. Many times, the oars hit against the narrow branches. Neo was getting frustrated; they had to be careful not to make too much noise, because the Careers would be coming any minute now.

"Screw this!" the District 10 boy exclaimed after about an hour. "I'm getting out and pushing it".

"Can you even swim?" Bretson asked. "I sure as hell can't".

"No" Neo admitted. "But these things have life jackets underneath them. Let me show you".

Neo climbed out of the kayak, splashing into the water. It was clear to see that he was trying to sink, but he couldn't. He was straight at the top of the water, always.

"It'll be best if we have two people pushing it" Bobbin said. It was clear that she didn't want to do it, but she was looking at one specific member of their team...

Bretson didn't want to get in that water. After all, he couldn't swim, and Neo had been right to point out that there could be electric eels in there, or worse. But Neo seemed to be right about the life jackets, so the District 6 boy decided to trust his ally. He swung his legs over the side of the kayak and slid into the water.

"You pull from the front, I'll push from the back" Bretson said.

Neo looked like he was about to protest, but he did what Bretson said, doggy-paddling over to the front of the boat. Once he was there, he grabbed onto the handle at the front, and he began pulling the boat as Bretson hung on, pushing and kicking in order to get the boat out of there.

Surprisingly, the water wasn't that deep. For some of it, Bretson (who stood 5 feet, 10 inches tall) was only waist-high in the murky saline water. Neo, who was taller, felt the rocks against his shoes even more.

Once the ground dropped off, and they had gone off of a shelf in terms of the water depth, that was when the two boys got back in the kayak, panting from the effort of hauling two girls. Even though they were small, and the boys were strong, the kayak weighed as much as both of them combined. It was no easy task.

Neo handed his paddle to Juliana. Since Bretson was more muscular than the District 10 boy, he didn't give his oar to Bobbin. Now, it was Juliana and Bretson paddling through the mangrove forest.

"Did you hear something?" Juliana asked, suddenly ceasing her paddling.

The others kept their ears on alert. "No, I don't believe so" Neo said.

"It sounds like...people paddling towards us" the District 11 girl said, suddenly beginning to sound terrified.

Neo looked back, and it turned out that Juliana was right. With a stroke of terror, he saw that the District 2 tributes, Lance and Scar, were about fifty yards behind them. In the dense mangrove forest, it was tough to hear. But the Careers were coming for them.

Both tributes drew their swords. Lance, several inches taller than his district partner, had a much longer sword as well. The District 2 boy dove into the water.

It was clear that he was a much more skilled swimmer than any of the members of the four-person alliance. He was quickly gaining on their kayak, as Scar stayed in the one belonging to District 2.

As Lance hoisted his sword out of the water, he got ready to overturn the kayak belonging to Bretson's group. The District 6 boy, however, was ready.

Bretson drew his warhammer and knelt up in the boat. He couldn't stand, since that could cause it to tip over. He wanted Lance to retreat, although he was willing to kill if it came to that. The hammer could crush a human skull. He could see himself doing that.

Lance swung his sword, making a neat gash on Bretson's leg. Clearly, he wasn't trying to kill, only to maim, since the group would need resources, or sponsors, to treat him.

The District 6 boy retaliated with a swing of the hammer. Lance ducked underwater, cursing the stupid life jacket. It was meant to help you stay afloat, but it could end up costing him his life.

"Let's go, Lance!" Scar called from her kayak. "We're not going to win against the warhammer!"

Lance still looked like he wanted to swing his sword again. But he couldn't do that without risking getting clobbered by Bretson. He realized, later than he should have, that this wasn't a fight he and Scar were likely to win.

"We'll remember this!" Lance yelled, before turning around and swimming back to his district partner. Bretson's alliance, relieved, began paddling in the opposite direction.

"That was a close call" Bobbin piped up unnecessarily, once she was sure the Careers were out of earshot.

"I know" Juliana said. "Bretson, your wound...we've got to find something to clean it with".

"Good luck with that" Neo said, laughing dryly. "This is the _Hunger Games,_ not a medical clinic".

"I know!" the District 11 girl said, this time as an exclamation. She reached for one of the nearest branches, from which she plucked a pair of green leaves.

"What's this?" Bretson asked.

"It'll stop the bleeding" she said.

Neo chuckled once again. "Oh, great. We've got a nature healer here".

Juliana put the leaves into her mouth and began chewing them like a piece of gum. Eventually, she took them out of her mouth.

"That's disgusting" Bobbin said.

"She's right" Bretson told the District 11 girl. "You don't know what's _on_ those leaves".

"I do" she said.

She pressed the leaves to Bretson's injured calf. "I have to stop the bleeding. This is something they do at home all the time".

"Thanks...I guess" Bretson said, wrinkling his nose. He still found it pretty gross, but in the Hunger Games, this could make a difference between life and death. The number one goal was to keep infection from setting in.

"No problem" Juliana said. She turned to the others. "Should I climb up, get a good view of the arena?"

"I see no problem with that" Neo said.

"Just be careful, okay?" Bretson said. "I don't know nature healing like you. I'm a city boy".

Juliana nodded. Then, she clambered out of the kayak, making sure to keep it as steady as possible to keep the group from taking an unplanned swim. With only her shoes touching the water, she deftly managed to latch onto a branch of a nearby mangrove tree.

"Good luck!" Bobbin called to her.

Juliana began climbing. These trees were a little harder to get a grip on than the fruit trees in District 11 that she was so used to. If Lucas Copperway was watching right now, she figured, he'd be proud of her, but maybe also a little afraid for her, besides the normal fear from your friend being in the Hunger Games. Lucas was pretty afraid of heights.

She reached the top of the tree, some fifty feet above the surface of the water. From here, she had a beautiful view of the arena.

Indeed, she saw the Cornucopia island, with what looked like the District 7 boy on guard. _So he's joined the Careers after all,_ she thought savagely. Said island was rimmed by four areas shaped like slices of pizza. These were, clockwise from where she was, the mangrove forest, the swamp, a desert island, and a coral reef. These seemed to be placed at even right angles.

Evenly spaced in between the pizza islands were four islands that, now that she was up high, it was plain to see were based on the four seasons of the year. Even though it seldom snowed in District 11, she could recognize the winter island right away. The spring island appeared to be a maze of paths, along which there were tons of fields with flowers of all colors.

The summer island, or at least what had to be it, was covered in pine trees, looking like the densest forest she'd ever seen. And, finally, the fall island, which was also something she saw back at home. The trees shone in red, yellow, orange...it was beautiful.

"Anything up there?" Bretson called up to her.

Juliana was about to answer when she suddenly said, "I'm losing my balance!"

It was true. The top branch was slick, and she tried to kneel downwards, in order to be more hidden in the branch. Unfortunately, she overcompensated in a big way, leaning forward and tumbling out of the leaves.

She hit branch after branch, so it was essentially like falling down a gigantic staircase, five feet at a time. It hurt each time, and the eventual impact with the water hurt even more. Nothing was broken, but she was glad she was wearing a life jacket. She didn't think she would have been able to swim to safety.

"Are you okay, Juliana?" Bretson practically screamed.

"Yeah, I'm fine" she said, even though the wind had been knocked out of her. "I need help getting back in".

"Sure. No problem" Neo said. The District 10 boy helped the District 11 girl back into the kayak, sopping wet.

"So...was there anything up there?" he asked, once Juliana was back in her seat. The kayak had four seats in it, even though it had only come with two paddles.

"There seem to be nine islands in total" she said. "Of course, we knew that already".

"Quite" Bretson replied.

"We'll have to be careful. We don't know when all of the other Careers will come hunting for us" Bobbin pointed out.

The others saw her point. They didn't want to be exposed for the Careers to find later. Bretson's hammer and Neo's machete were both very well and good, but the fact remained that this wouldn't be enough to defend them.

"So...fall island?" Juliana asked.

"No problem with that" Neo said. "The Careers will probably want to stay at the Cornucopia island".

"I'm fine with that" Bobbin said.

"Me three" Bretson replied.

"That settles it" the District 11 girl said. "We're going to spend the night at the fall island. In the morning, we'll pack up and move somewhere else".

Without another word, the alliance of four maneuvered the canoe out of the mangrove forest and towards the island that so resembled a New England autumn.

* * *

"We're not meant for the swamp" Sam said.

The District 4 tributes had been trudging through Deep Darkness for what felt like hours. While the harbors occasionally smelled bad, and were kind of disgusting, this place looked like it had suffered a major oil spill. This was no ordinary swamp.

"Too right" Jenny replied.

"How long should we keep going until we find somebody?" her district partner asked. "I don't know about you, but I don't trust Fennal all that much".

"Do you want to turn around now?" she asked Sam.

"No" Sam said. "I want to keep going for another thirty minutes or so".

The swamp literally felt like it was pulling them under. It was only thanks to their life jackets that they were able to stay afloat. That, and the fact that they were from District 4 and knew how to swim pretty well.

Touching her spear to the bottom, Jenny could measure the depth of the water. For the most part, although she tried to avoid touching the ground, it was probably no more than four or five feet. Not that bad; at the most, she'd be up to her neck.

"I don't like this place" the District 4 girl said after a while.

"Yeah" Sam said. "This whole arena kind of sucks".

"I mean this area in particular" Jenny replied. "It feels like it was built to counteract our natural advantage. You know, since we're from District 4".

"Whatever" the District 4 boy said. Then, he stopped. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

When Jenny trained her ears, she _could_ hear the sound of something rustling above them. Was that another tribute?

"It's probably nothing" she said, although she wasn't convinced of it.

Suddenly, a giant fish appeared. It was green in color, stood on its hind legs, and it held a spear in one hand.

"Halt! Who goes there?" it bellowed.

"Just...us" Jenny said.

"Enough games" it said. "I am a Manly Fish, and this is my brother".

A purple fish rose out of the swamp right next to it. It was similar in size to its brother, and basically identical other than the color.

"Hello. I am Manly Fish's Brother".

"Don't you have a proper name?" Sam asked.

"What do you mean?" Manly Fish's Brother asked.

"I mean, like I'm Sam Hatcher and she's Jenny Winters" the District 4 boy said.

"This is my proper name" said the purple fish.

"That's sad" said Jenny. Really, why should she care? This was just some mutt that the Capitol had thought it would be funny to place in the arena. There was no other explanation.

"It's fine" said Manly Fish's Brother. "Really, you should go, or we will kill you painfully".

Sam looked like he was about to protest, but Jenny held him back. "Sam, it's not worth it. And we haven't seen anybody. Let's just go back to the Cornucopia".

The District 4 boy didn't have a problem with that. The pair of fish watching them, they turned around and began trudging back through the hammer.

* * *

Sei and Ebony, meanwhile, were not having a good time in the desert.

For one, it was swelteringly hot there, but that should only have been expected. Clearly, no other tributes had thought that it would be a good idea to come here, or they would have found somebody. Really, this was a bad omen for the Careers in terms of hunting for other tributes.

"How much longer should we go on?" Ebony asked, wiping sweat from her face. She had to constantly be on the lookout, because there were not only cacti in their path, but they had to be careful not to step on them as well. The barbs could pierce through clothing easily.

"Another twenty minutes?" Sei said. He wiped his forehead once more. "I just wish we brought some water. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling kind of dehydrated".

"In what way?" his district partner asked him.

"Just...thirsty. And a little dizzy. My head hurts. I'm not used to this heat in District 1. Usually, the ocean really does help guard against the extremes of weather".

"Fine" Ebony said, although her tone of voice made it clear that she wasn't happy about it. "Let's head back to the Cornucopia. I guess today was a failure".

"I'll be fine" Sei said. "Once I've got a little more water, I'm going to be okay".

"No, they're all pretty far away now" the District 1 girl said. "We're not in too big of a hurry. If you're not feeling better after that, _then_ we'll have to worry, but I don't think we do right now".

"That's a relief" the District 1 boy said. "Let's go now, before they train some mutt on us. Really, that's not going to help our cause at all".

"Indeed, it isn't" Ebony said, before she joined her district partner in turning around to head back to the Cornucopia island.

* * *

"We're here" Kidra said, pulling herself out of the water.

Indeed, it had been a long swim over to the spring island. Her arms and legs were aching from the exertion, and she knew that they wouldn't have that much food even in the best of circumstances, so it was best to burn as few calories as possible.

It had only been a few hours since they had entered the arena, but Panna was starting to get hungry. If only someone would sponsor them...

As if capable of telepathy, Kidra said, "I don't see why anyone would sponsor us this early. I'm sorry, but it just doesn't happen. Not like that".

"Doesn't mean it couldn't" Panna replied.

"I know" the District 5 girl said.

Once out of the water, the pair of girls began walking through the fields of flowers. Even though it looked fully natural, it was actually kind of like a botanical garden of some sort. As in, the kind that people visited on day trips.

There were dirt roads, leading in several different directions. Hedges were present at every corner, and the fields were covered in flowers of various colors; pink, blue, yellow, orange, and various others that shimmered in the afternoon sun. Since it was several hours past noon, shadows were being cast over them that made the flowers look ghostly, in a way.

"I don't know if I like the look of this place, Kidra" Panna said.

"Well, we're going to find a place to stay!" the District 5 girl snapped. "Whether you like it or not!"

The younger girl figured that this was fair. After all, it wasn't as though they wanted to go that much further. The girls were running low on energy. They wanted to find a place to bed down, and soon. The sun might still be high in the sky, but it was inching closer to sunset every minute. They needed to find somewhere to sleep before it got dark.

* * *

Rey was walking in the snow at the same time that the girls he had abandoned were on the spring island.

Being from District 11, he wasn't a fan of the snow, which seldom fell there. Beyond that, he was just not in the mood to be cold right now. He didn't have much of an option, however.

He supposed that the Careers were unlikely to find him here. They wouldn't expect someone from one of the warmest districts in Panem to go to the winter island first. Which was, of course, precisely why he had gone there. He had wanted to avoid detection, to evade rather than attack.

Of course, he was starting to regret that decision. He knew that he needed to be sponsored something, in order to make it through the night. Finding some pine branches to use as a bed or blanket was all very well and good, but it wouldn't amount to too much. He'd have to find something more substantial.

 _Would I have to go back to the Cornucopia for that, though?_ he asked himself. _Sometimes, you just can't win._

He knew that going back to the Cornucopia would mean a fight against the Careers, a fight he could not possibly win. He had no weapon, and they most likely had seven. He hadn't heard any more cannons since the Bloodbath, after all.

Rey supposed that his new surroundings were pretty enough. Various trees, both evergreen and deciduous, made up the forest that was the winter island. There was a thick layer of snow on the ground, up to his knees almost, so it was pretty awesome if you were into that sort of thing. Rey, of course, was _not_ into that sort of thing, but he saw that some people would have been.

That encounter with the girls had really shaken him up. More than he'd liked to admit. If he hadn't been so quick to make that pact with them, who _knew_ what might have happened? He hadn't been having a good time in the swamp, and now he was still on the run from the other tributes.

Sometimes, you just couldn't win.

* * *

Lance and Scar had been disappointed not to be able to even pick off _one_ member of Bretson's alliance. Even though they had managed to give the District 6 boy a minor wound, Lance had no doubt that it would be healed quickly. He'd heard rumors of how they healed wounds in District 11; Juliana might have been a better choice to attack. Then, they could have prevented her from possibly healing Bretson.

"It's okay" Scar said. "We'll have plenty of time to hunt tomorrow. We've got to get back to the Cornucopia, hope that Fennal hasn't stolen all of our stuff".

Lance knew that she was right. There was no way to be a hundred percent certain that the District 7 boy was trustworthy. They were pretty much going on blind faith here.

Now, they were kayaking out of the mangrove forest. Once they were clear of the trees, they would be able to paddle back to the Cornucopia easily, for they were not very far away. Hopefully, Fennal hadn't gotten too selfish.

* * *

Bretson and his group had managed to make it to the fall island. They didn't have that much supplies, just two weapons, so they were wondering where they were going to sleep.

"It's going to get pretty cold at night, won't it?" Bobbin asked.

Bretson knew that it could only be a few more hours until sunset. He didn't want to have to tell Bobbin the truth, which was that there was no way to know that they would be warm enough tonight. However, he saw no other way to be honest, than to tell the truth.

"It will. We'll have to hope that we get some sponsors. Thanks for your nature healing, Juliana" he said.

The District 11 girl smiled. "It's no problem. Leaves are everywhere in this arena". Looking more serious, she said, "We're going to need someone to sponsor us before long. Seeder, if you're there, please send us something".

No silver parachute came floating down from the sky. The group simply sat there, spending some time observing more of their surroundings.

They had left the kayak on the rocky beach that ringed the fall island. Hopefully, the tide wouldn't come in and take it, although all four of them knew, from experience watching on TV, that the Hunger Games was never safe, and rarely did everything, or indeed _anything,_ go right. That was simply the nature of a Hunger Games arena.

Now, they were about fifty yards inland, sitting underneath trees with leaves of all sorts of warm colors. Fallen leaves littered the ground, something that was only seen in some of the districts. Certainly, it was a very pretty scene, just like this whole arena was. Of course, however, it all depended on why you were there.

"Let's hope someone sponsors us soon" Neo said. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry".

"We all are, Neo" said Juliana. "We've just got to deal with it".

And yet...a silver parachute came down from the sky, just as soon as Juliana had finished her sentence.

* * *

Sei and Ebony got back to the Cornucopia at roughly the same time that the pairs of Lance and Scar and Sam and Jenny did. All six of them were relieved to find that Fennal was still faithfully guarding their supplies.

"Thanks, Fennal" Sei said, sitting down and wiping more sweat off of his brow. Ebony, seeing the state her district partner was in, went over to one of the backpacks and got him a bottle of water.

The District 1 boy thanked Ebony before taking the cap off and taking a long drink. "Man, that desert is _no joke._ I wonder what the summer island is going to be like".

"No kidding" Lance said. "At least some of us are going to go there tomorrow, when we go out hunting. Even though we didn't get anyone this afternoon, I'm feeling pretty optimistic".

"Me too" said Jenny. "Ten during the Bloodbath. Not bad".

"At this rate, these Games will be over within a week" Fennal said. "I mean, why would the Gamemakers want them to last for weeks like they have in the past?"

"Maybe they find that exciting" Sam pointed out.

"Let's talk about the areas of the arena we went to" Ebony said. "The desert was brutal. So many cacti...I can't see many tributes hiding there. Tomorrow, we might have to go through it in order to get to the summer island, though. Not looking forward to that".

"Quite" Sei said. "I'm feeling a lot better now. Thanks, Ebony".

"It's no problem" the District 1 girl said. "How about you guys?" she asked, turning to District 2.

"We went to the mangroves, like you said. We almost knocked off the boy from District 6, but he had a lot of protection. Really, we'll search the fall and winter islands tomorrow for them" Lance said.

"Agreed" Scar said.

"And the swamp _sucked"_ Sam said. "It's all dark and grimy, and then there's the Manly Fish and his brother".

"What are you talking about?" Ebony asked.

"Never mind" Jenny said, seeing that this conversation was going in a direction she didn't want it to".

"I'll go out hunting with you guys tomorrow" Fennal said. "Can we find someone else to be camp guard?"

* * *

Panna and Kidra were still looking for a suitable place to spend the night. They had walked down what felt like endless dirt paths, wondering just how big this island could possibly be. Eventually, they came across some greenhouses, but they didn't know what plants might be in them.

"Are you sure it's safe to go in there?" Panna asked her ally. "We don't know what's in there".

"I'm fine with it" said Kidra. "We'll find out once we're in there. I just wish we had some sleeping bags or something. That would make this whole thing far more bearable".

Panna didn't say anything. She knew that it was going to be tough to get through the night either way, what with being worried about other tributes and all.

And then, a silver parachute began descending from the sky. Both of them were instantly standing up, excited: Silver parachutes always carried something good, a gift from a sponsor. Rarely did people sponsor tributes this early in the Games, so they were both a little suspicious.

"Should we go see what's in it?" asked Kidra.

It was a rather large package, but Panna was fine with seeing what was in it right now. The sun was starting to sink already, and the anthem would be starting not too much later.

"Yes! Sleeping bags!" the District 3 girl cheered.

It wasn't just sleeping bags that the package held. There was also a bundle of food; bread from Districts 3 and 5, the bite-sized square rolls alongside the normally shaped ones with caraway seeds, as well as a bundle of orange and purple carrots.

"Let's eat it sparingly" Kidra said, setting up their two sleeping bags on the ground.

"Hold up" Panna said. "I say we sleep in the greenhouse. We'll need protection from the elements, and the Careers are less likely to find us in there".

"Fair enough" the older girl replied. "Let's go in there".

Kidra opened the door to the greenhouse, and Panna was astonished by the large variety of plants that were in there. Of course, she had a hard time enjoying it, given where they were, but it was still a sight to behold regardless.

"Let's sleep here" Panna said again. "This looks pretty comfortable".

"Okay" Kidra said, placing the bundle of food on the ground beside their sleeping bags. Together, they waited for the anthem.

* * *

Bretson's alliance was waiting for the anthem when a silver parachute came down from the sky.

"We have a sponsor!" Juliana all but yelled.

"Quiet" Neo chided her.

Bobbin ran up to the package and opened it. In the bundle was a small box of bandages for Bretson's wound, some apples, some cheese, and some bread. It looked like it was going to be a good meal.

"Cheers" Bretson said, taking an apple and bumping it against Neo's.

They ate in silence as the sky darkened, waiting for the anthem. The dead tributes were about to be shown in the sky...

And then it started. The Capitol's anthem began playing, and the first tribute shown was Jiro. This meant that all four of the tributes from Districts 1 and 2 had survived, which was no surprise to any of the tributes in the group of four. Rarely did Careers die in the Bloodbath, and the next tribute shown was Tesla of District 5, meaning that Panna and both of the Careers from District 4 had survived as well.

Bretson had a hard time holding back tears as Cassia, followed by Heather, were shown, although he felt a lot of rage when Fennal was revealed to still be alive. That _coward,_ aligning with the Careers!

Warp, Bobbin's district partner, was also shown, followed by Ollie and Acacia from 9, Bonnie from 10, and both from 12. The anthem finally ended, and the seal of the Capitol disappeared with it.

"Quite a day" Neo said.

Bretson and the others agreed. And this Hunger Games was just beginning.

* * *

 **And here it is: the end of the first day! It's time to deliver the obituaries, so...**

 **RIP Darros, Jiro, Warp, Cassia, Heather, Bonnie, Annabeth, Acacia, Ollie, and Tesla**

 **Darros: As many of you suspected, he was created just to be cannon fodder. I'm sure a lot of you hated him, and he's one of those guys you really do love to hate. At least for me. While I do not consider myself a feminist, I think that there is a certain level of respect that a man should show when around women, particularly when they are on national television like the Hunger Games! Of course, Darros does not show women even that baseline of respect. And the creator of Sei, Corvus Azrael Black, thanked me and favorited me for getting to kill this little villain. Thanks, Corvus Azrael Black. But Darros was not a pleasant guy, and the arena will likely be a more interesting place without him in it. In fact, his strategy was just listed as "Die".**

 **Jiro: I was never going to let this guy win, simply because his creator already has a character win. In a way, he reminded me of Eli from Labyrinth, a Career who wants to be known for something else besides what they are known for locally, in their district. As soon as he rubbed the Careers the wrong way, he was doomed. Really, that's one thing you should never do in the Hunger Games. Don't get on the bad side of the alliance that controls the Games! Besides that, though, this guy was all right. He wasn't my favorite, but he wasn't my least favorite either. He certainly went out fighting, which is one good thing you can say.**

 **Warp: I think that he was a fairly simple character. Scrawny, shy boy from District 8. Nothing really to see here. But I did enjoy writing him, the few times that I actually did. I know that his district partner got more of an edit during the pre-Games portion, and you can bet that Bobbin will also have a bigger edit now that her district partner is no longer alive. Besides that, however, there's really not much else for me to say.**

 **Cassia: I enjoyed writing her brother-sister relationship with Bretson, just like we had Taysom and Karla in Lorax. She was also the daughter of a victor, and the second child her family has lost for the Hunger Games. Man, I feel bad for the Haydns! In any case, her death was pretty sad, and I'm sure that her parents are going to have a hard time getting over it. Really, I'll have to write a segment about that for the Victory Tour, which was rushed last time. This time, I don't think it will be.**

 **Heather: I enjoyed writing about the feuds between her parents, and her joining Bretson's alliance. She's definitely more likable than her district partner. In any case, I'm sorry to see her go, and I think that many of you weren't expecting it, but this is what I decided to make happen. The submitter has been very good friends with me, so I'm happy about that. She is now one of the 29 people who have me on their favorites lists. But yeah, thanks for making this story interesting, Heather.**

 **Bonnie: I'll be 100% with you guys here. I didn't write Bonnie well. She was supposed to be far more confident than I portrayed her. I could say that I was tired from writing about 19 tributes before her, but the truth is that it's all on me. I could have written at different times of the day, but what times? In any case, I would like to sincerely apologize to hollowman96 for how much I butchered their tribute. I will try not to do so ever again.**

 **Annabeth: Just like her district partner, she was cannon fodder. She was specifically meant to be a Bloodbath tribute, and I delivered on that request. I even commented that this was a unique request: Normally, people don't want their tributes to be Bloodbaths, they want them to make it all the way! But I guess that I did as well as I could on her, considering that I didn't have that much to go on. Still, I'd like to thank the creator.**

 **Acacia: She was definitely different, being a morphling addict and all. She was supposed to be from District 6 at first, but I already had Cassia in that spot, so the creator had to settle for what he got, a District 9 female. Still, I did like writing her segments with the whole purple haze that is brought on by morphling. As someone who has never had any major illnesses (other than viral meningitis, Asperger's, and OCD), it was hard to put myself in that position, but few things worth doing are ever easy. I've never had morphine, which I suppose is the real-life version, so if I described the effects accurately that'd be good to know.**

 **Ollie: A shocking death for many, I liked his whole fatherly dynamic, about how he had two kids at home. Rarely do you see parents being in the Hunger Games, and this added a whole new weight to his death. I also think that he died in one of the worst ways of anyone in one of my stories, other than Aurora or Preston. That was pretty memorable, getting torn apart by a shark!**

 **Tesla: A naughty boy...yeah, they weren't going to let him win anyways. He was fun to write, and I'm sure there were people who didn't expect him to go so soon given the immense amount of attention I was giving him. Still, this is what I did to him, and I don't regret it. Ten tributes had to die in my Bloodbath, and he just so happened to be number ten. Or fifteen, depending on how you look at it.**

 **With that, we're in the double digits. Ten tributes are gone, and fourteen remain.**

 **Like I said, there is no sponsor system in these Games. I hope you understand that, and that I will give tributes whatever the plot desires. I am also sorry that this was all there was to Day 1. I didn't have any more deaths planned out for this day, so I saw no point in having multiple post-Bloodbath chapters on the first day. Trust me when I say that this is going to be an exciting Hunger Games indeed.**

 **So, please review, and tell me what you think of my update schedule, every three days will be it.**

 **Sincerely, SnowLucario.**


	13. Muscle

**Survivor last night was epic. Some people have come out defending a certain contestant, and it's essentially a social media war. I'm not even going to say it, you'll just have to watch it for yourself.**

 **We have reached 2,000 views! That's over fifty a day, and I have an average of well over three reviews per day as well, at 126. You guys are awesome, and we're likely to reach our goal. Maybe even 250? Anything's possible.**

 **This is not the longest chapter, not by a long shot, but I hope that it is an acceptable length. Plenty of Nintendo references in there. There WILL be things that happen in it, however. It won't be all like last chapter, which was pretty dull. A fourth of it was obituaries, can you believe that?**

 **Have not been writing as much lately, just because I've been reading a fanfiction and a novel. I've barely read any novels since I started writing fanfiction. Can you believe that?**

 _Answer: I like to read chapters anywhere from 2K to 10K, preferably varying throughout the story. As for writing, I write between 4K and 7K generally._

 _Question: Do you travel a lot?_

* * *

Rey's luck hadn't been completely awful.

Looking at the sky that night, he was relieved to see that some threats, like Ollie, had already been taken care of. At times, he wasn't a hundred percent sure that he wanted to win, because that would have meant returning to District 11, a place he loathed. But he had an instinctive fear of death, or what lay beyond the void. Really, nobody knew that, and that was terrifying. Rey wasn't one who liked uncertainty.

He was shivering through the frigid night, desperately wishing that someone would sponsor him...until it actually happened. A silver parachute descended from the sky, and he knew what that meant. There was someone in the Capitol who was rooting for him.

He entertained the idea of the victor's crown resting atop his head, a fantastical notion to be sure, but it felt close, in a way. Of course, he knew that this was an illusion. He was still a long way from winning, so he wouldn't count his prize money yet.

Rey opened the package to find that a bright purple sleeping bag had been given to him. He wasn't a particular fan of the color, since it would practically glow in the dark. At this point, however, he was willing to do anything short of lighting a fire to stay warm, so he gladly got himself into it.

He still didn't have a pillow, but Rey was going to make one of his own. His greasy head had no problem adjusting to packed snow as a pillow, which was something that would normally not be comfortable for most people, but the District 11 boy was okay with. Truth be told, he was willing to take anything for a pillow.

Even with the sleeping bag, however, it took him a while to drift off. The whole time, he had visions in his head of the Careers catching him, and he knew that this was not an outcome he wanted. Most preferably, he would want to be able to make it to the very end without killing anybody, then perform the one kill he had to in order to win.

Then he remembered Paolina, the girl from District 9 who had managed to do it all, a no damage run to either her body or her conscience. Rey wished that he could have it as easily as her.

Shivering the night away, he woke up drenched in a cold sweat. Looking around, he saw that he was still alone, which relieved him. He decided that he wanted to head for warmer climates, since this night had been so bad for him. He knew that there was no way that the Gamemakers were going to let things get any easier for him, so it made no sense to stay on the winter island any longer.

Rey walked through the deep snow, thinking about how cold it was. It was so cold, in fact, that the ocean, which was a mere sixty degrees Fahrenheit, would feel like a tropical paradise as compared to this.

He would be heading to the spring island. He knew that Kidra and Panna were there, and it might be risky, but he was beyond caring at this point. He might have been unarmed, but so were the two girls. He had nothing to fear from a fight; he figured that he was stronger than the both of them, particularly Panna. After all, the District 3 girl had only scored a one in training. He didn't know what she had done to deserve a low score, but that led to him not fearing her.

"Well, it's the second day now" he said to himself. He was proud of himself. He'd made it a full day into the Hunger Games, no small task. He knew that he would have to make it a lot further to win, but right now things were going his way.

Of course, the next thing he had to face was the swamp. His passing through the spring island was really only a waystation on his way to the summer island. There, he hoped, he would be able to lose himself in the dense pine forests.

* * *

"I know what we can call ourselves" Bobbin said, nibbling on a hunk of cheese.

"What is it?" Neo asked. Truth be told, the District 10 boy hadn't taken the idea of naming his alliance too seriously. After all, it was sort of a moot point. Whatever they called themselves, whether it be Bretson's Bunch, the Bee Gees, or the Backstreet Boys, it made no difference. The alliance still served the same purpose.

"The Muscle Alliance" the District 8 girl said, giggling.

Bretson woke up. "Did someone say _Muscle Alliance_?" he asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Yeah" Juliana said. "Bobbin did. Are you okay with us calling the alliance that?"

"Yeah" the District 6 boy said. "I've got nothing wrong with my muscular frame being acknowledged at every turn".

The group laughed at that. Even Neo, who was normally pretty serious, got in a chuckle or two.

"On a more serious subject", the District 10 boy said, able to stop laughing, "where are we going to go today?"

The newly christened Muscle Alliance hadn't really given that much thought. They couldn't stay at this island indefinitely, that was for sure. This wasn't that big of an arena. The other tributes would discover them eventually.

"Let's go to the summer island" Bretson said. "I like the look of all of those pine trees. Some cover from the Careers?"

"Sounds good" Juliana replied. "Let's get to our kayak, and then we can make our way there?"

"Why not just swim?" Neo asked.

"Don't know how" Bobbin said.

"Bobbin, these are life jackets" Bretson said. "You're not going to sink. It's like training wheels for swimming. You should be thanking the Capitol, they're at least giving us this courtesy".

Of course, the part about thanking the Capitol was partially sarcastic. None of these tributes had anything to thank the Capitol for; all four of them had been arbitrarily condemned to die, just because their names had been pulled out of a random lottery. It was quite unfair when one thought of it, or even if one didn't give it serious thought.

The Muscle Alliance walked down to the beach, where the kayak was waiting for them. The two girls sat in the front, while the two boys sat in the back, paddling.

The sky was gold and some of the fish were rose as the Muscle Alliance paddled near the central island. They didn't know what might be awaiting by the coral reef, but they had decided not to risk it. Were there some kind of sea creatures that had been put there by the Capitol?

As it turned out, however, by taking the route by the Cornucopia, they had traded one danger for another.

Fennal, who had woken up earlier than the other Careers, who were sleeping in, had had a tough time not killing one of them in their sleep. Of course, he knew that the cannon would have given him away. There was indeed safety in numbers in the Hunger Games.

The District 7 boy saw the Muscle Alliance before the alliance saw Fennal. The Career took the chance to throw an axe at them, but it fell into the water.

"What was that?" Neo all but yelled. "That came about six feet from decapitating me!"

Indeed it had, as the axe sank into the crystalline water. Bretson immediately took that as their cue to start paddling faster. They didn't want to end up as fodder for the Careers. Not when it was only the second day of the Games.

Fennal immediately jumped in the water, trying to reach the canoe and _actually_ get Neo or Bretson. However, it was clear that his swimming skills left much to be desired, as the Muscle Alliance managed to use their, well, muscles to get away from Fennal.

"We'd better take the long way around" Juliana said. "I don't know about you guys, but I'd take coral over Careers any day".

None of the others had anything to say to object to that. What reason did they have to take such a great risk?

"How long is it", Bretson said breathlessly, "until the others all come in their kayak, like they did yesterday? We'll have to get away before then!"

And so the Muscle Alliance paddled at top speed towards the island covered in pine trees.

* * *

"Morning, Kidra" Panna said, stretching out her arms and legs. She was stiff from lying in that sleeping bag. While it had been reasonably comfortable, it had led to her back feeling sore.

"Good morning, Panna" the older girl replied, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "I see that we've made it through the night".

This in itself was little consolation; neither girl knew exactly how many more nights they would have to make it through until they got to a point where one of them would have won the Games. Of course, the odds were still that neither of them would win, but they didn't know that for sure.

"Should we go further inland today?" Kidra asked. "The Careers are going to search this island soon enough".

"No problem with that" Panna said. "I only wish we had backpacks".

The girls had their bread and carrots with them, as well as the sleeping bags. They had a small breakfast, but, in order to honor their commitment to each other, each ate two rolls, one of District 3 and one of District 5. Panna had to admit, the caraway seeds certainly added some extra flavor, and in a good way. She would not tire of the District 5 bread as long as she lived...which probably wouldn't be that long.

"Let's put the food in with our sleeping bags" said Kidra. "Or...I have a better idea".

"What's that?" the younger girl asked.

"The Careers are going to go out hunting today, right? That's what they always seem to do".

"What are you suggesting?"

"We go and steal something from the Cornucopia".

* * *

The Careers were just waking up, Fennal having failed to defeat a single member of the underdog alliance. Really, they were pathetic, even more so than the alliance formed by his predecessor, Taysom Resinworth.

As they had a small breakfast of dried apples and crackers, Lance broached a topic that was always important.

"Where are we going today? What's our game plan for hunting down tributes?"

There was a good deal of discussion among the group of seven, one of the larger Career packs that the Games had ever had. Eventually, they had come to a decision.

Lance and Sei would go hunting on the summer island, which they would take a kayak to. Sam, Jenny, and Ebony would take another kayak to the mangrove forest, while Fennal would go it alone on the spring island. Scar would be heading to the winter island.

As the group disbanded, Scar couldn't help but think that there was a tiny flaw in their plan.

* * *

Rey was trudging through the swamp once again. This time, however, he was heading to the spring island, and he was hoping to make his way to the summer island from there. He wasn't sure how many hours of travel that would be, but he did know it was fraught with danger.

Were the Careers going to find him on the spring island? Anything was possible, but he decided to think optimistically. No, he had to worry more about Panna and Kidra. He could only hope that the girls from 3 and 5 had decided to hold up their end of the deal.

The water in the swamp was literally the temperature of bath water; it wouldn't be refreshing to someone who had just been on the desert island, for instance. Not only that, but Rey found the place absolutely disgusting. Even though most of it wasn't deep enough to sink him, he clutched the trees with muffin-shaped bunches of leaves as much as possible.

"I just want to get out of this mess" he said, quietly enough that he didn't think anyone not within five yards would be able to hear him.

A voice said, "Oh, _really?_ Would you like for me to end your life?"

Rey raised both of his arms. "I don't know? Are you God? I don't want to die".

"Too bad" said the voice, and something rose out of the murky teal water. The District 11 boy was able to see that it was a large, red flower with a yellow center. It was about four feet wide, and had several weeds coming out of its body.

"What are you supposed to be?" Rey asked, not sure that he wanted to know the answer. He grabbed onto a tree and began climbing it, determined to get as far away from this thing as possible.

"I'm Demonic Petunia" said the flower. "I'm not going to let you go so easily".

"Hold up!" Rey said. "I'm in the Hunger Games, and I'm likely to die soon. I'd rather not get eaten and digested by a flower, if that's fine".

Demonic Petunia shrugged. "I guess that's okay. But you had better die within the next week, or I'm coming to get you!"

The District 11 boy wasn't sure that he wanted to test that out, but he was skeptical of the flower's claim. Even so, he didn't think twice about bolting down from the tree and continuing to swim towards the spring island.

* * *

"I don't want to go through the swamp again" Panna said.

Kidra nodded. They'd gotten up and discussed their plan, which was to sneak up on the Cornucopia when the Careers weren't there. They were hoping that, sometime today, there would be an opportunity.

"Do you want to sneak up on them from the desert island?" Kidra asked.

"That'd be nice" the younger girl replied. "Like I said, I've had enough of the swamp".

The two girls exited the greenhouse, leaving their sleeping bags and bread behind. They were really staking a lot on this plan. If it failed, they would be unable to come back here, for it was quite a long way from the spring island to the Cornucopia. They were betting it all that they would be able to get some food and supplies from the Cornucopia, more than they had been sponsored.

It was a pleasant morning in the arena, if that sentence was not an oxymoron. The fields of flowers were very solid, like blocks of color. In Panem, few citizens had ever travelled to any foreign countries, but those who had had always said that the Netherlands, from the window of a plane, looked like a video game. Panna could see, now, how it could be seen that way.

"You know what this place reminds me of?" the District 3 girl said.

"No" Kidra replied. "What _does_ this place remind you of?"

"Flower Fields" Panna said.

When the older girl stared at her blankly, Panna continued, "It's like that area from the first Paper Mario game, where they have that machine that creates all of those dark clouds and blocks out the sun".

"Well, I've never really played any video games" Kidra said. "In any case, we need to work our way to the desert island. This island will take a couple of hours to traverse, I can assume".

The girls could have crossed over to the coastline of the island, but that brought with it its own risks, namely that they would be spotted. It was best to stay among the various pathways that went through the fields and hedges.

Eventually, there was a large buzzing noise, and Kidra stood stock-still. "Was that...".

"I don't even want to know" Panna replied.

Just then, an enormous bee rose up into the sky. It was the size of a bicycle, it was so huge. Its fur, if you could call it that, was the usual yellow and black stripes, but its eyes were the scariest part. They were practically unseeing. It was blind, and yet it was also full of blind rage.

"Let's run!" Panna cried.

Kidra did so, with the District 3 girl right behind. The bee started to follow them, but Kidra realized something.

If the bee was blind, it could not see where they were going; it had to rely on its sense of hearing. Therefore, they should try to make as little noise as possible, in order to minimize the chances of the bee's ears picking their footsteps up.

"Let's be quiet" the District 5 girl whispered into her district partner's ear, hoping that the bee didn't follow them.

After what felt like ten minutes of bushwhacking, they had reached the shore. From there, they were going to swim to the desert island, and then to the Cornucopia. It really did look like this plan might just work.

* * *

In the meantime, Rey had finally reached the other side of the swamp. Swimming over to the spring island, he climbed onto the beach, desperately hoping that none of the Careers had seen him. By now, they were probably going on their morning hunt. Maybe they were even going to set up camp somewhere besides the Cornucopia. He really didn't want to run right into them.

The flowers, he supposed, were pretty enough. It reminded him more of District 11 than he would have liked, which was indeed why he'd gone to the winter island first. Here, though, he knew that he'd be more comfortable. And, really, he had an ultimate goal in mind. The summer island.

He'd been sponsored a sleeping bag, but he'd left it on the winter island, for two reasons.

The first reason, and probably the more important one, was that it was too hard to lug through the swamp. He didn't want to get it too dirty, if he was indeed keeping it.

The second reason was so that he could fool the other tributes (besides Panna and Kidra) into thinking that he was still on the island, when the reality was that he had left. The advantage of this was obvious.

As he walked down the lanes of flowers, it became obvious to him that there must be someone nearby. The rustling in the leaves, while not as loud as it might have been, was starting to get annoying, and yet there was something about it that seemed deliberate.

Just then, an axe buried itself into the ground, just two feet away from Rey. Looking behind him, the District 11 boy saw Fennal. _That fucker!_ Rey thought.

There was no time to be angry right now; all he could do was run, run as far away from the District 7 boy as possible. _What was he doing on this island?_

Luckily, Fennal was larger than Rey. The Asian boy from District 7 was not as fast as the pale white boy from District 11. On the unfortunate side of things, Rey was without a weapon, and always had been. He had always had three options in these cases: Run, hide, or fight.

He chose the first of those three options, and Fennal was jeering at him, laughing at poor little Rey, having to run away. Rey felt rage, white-hot rage, bubbling up in the pit of his stomach.

There was a greenhouse nearby! He could hide in there and bide his time until Fennal went away!

Running at a dead sprint, he managed to get into the greenhouse and shut the door. Fennal pounded furiously, trying to open it up, but Rey was leaning back against it, making sure that there was nothing the Career could do. The door wasn't budging.

With a very angry look at the District 11 boy, the District 7 boy began pacing around the greenhouse, looking for the opportunity to get Rey when he was least expecting it.

Rey didn't take that chance. While Fennal was on the other side of the greenhouse, he bolted out of there, running like a madman, and by the time he heard Fennal start to run, he was already thirty yards ahead of him.

 _It's just not worth it,_ Fennal thought. _There'll be something here that kills him. There always is._

* * *

Rey ran until he was exhausted, but he never gave up. He didn't know how far Fennal was willing to follow him along these lanes of flowers, but he was willing to bet pretty far. He wanted to go as far as he possibly could.

There was a sound that evoked the idea of burgers sizzling on a grill coming from up ahead. With no idea what this could possibly be, Rey approached cautiously, wishing to avoid an out-of-nowhere death. If he fell, he wanted it to be at the hands of another tribute, not the Capitol. But he didn't want to fall.

Peering over the edge of the terrace that this path was set on (which was covered by a thick fence made of metal), he saw a horrific scene. It wasn't another tribute, but it still made his skin crawl.

The area beneath the terrace was crawling with purple-red vines that were thicker than car tires. Not only that, but these vines were covered in spikes. Rey knew that if he fell in there, it was going to hurt in a big way.

Once the metallic fencing stopped, Rey was extremely careful to stay on the balance beam of land that the Gamemakers had put there. It took him ten minutes to go a hundred yards, but he was making progress, trying not to acknowledge the ocean below. If he did so, he knew he'd be likely to lose his balance. He didn't want that to happen.

* * *

Kidra and Panna had reached the desert island. Now, they were within striking distance of the Cornucopia. They could do this. They really could.

Both of them were trying to stop their hearts from pounding. They both knew that, if they succeeded in this plan, they would have enough food, and maybe even weapons, for quite a while. If they failed, both of them would be dead.

They were just about to go swimming into the water when a voice behind them said, "Oh! It's _you_ ".


	14. Saint Veronika

**Like it or not, my most popular YouTube video is now my reaction to Jeff Varner outing Zeke Smith as transgender, having garnered four thousand views. It was big news, and I got plenty of mean comments, which I'm okay with. Also, happy Easter. As a former Christian, I can't believe I used to believe it. It seems so ridiculous on the outside, but you didn't come here for that.**

 **Here it is: a chapter I think you guys are going to enjoy! It's a decent length (well over 4,000 words) and emotional, which is what I always like to strive for. Not that there's ever a non-emotional chapter in the Hunger Games, but this is up there. It's one of my favorites. The title comes from a Billy Talent song inspired by a book I'm reading now. I downloaded the PDF onto my laptop I write this stuff on. It's called "Veronika Decides To Die", and it's about a young Slovenian woman during the 1990s who attempts suicide because her life is too dull. She's not depressed, she just hasn't gotten the chance to BE depressed, or joyful, in her life. Just read it. It's pretty freaking good.**

 **Don't worry, this is NOT turning into a songfic.**

 _Answer: My family has done a lot of traveling, and I have been to quite a few European countries: England, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. I've visited 20 or so states, including my own._

 _Question: What fanfiction are you currently reading?_

* * *

Panna and Kidra whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. Of course, it turned out that it was Rey.

"You again?" he said.

"I might ask the same thing of you" Kidra said severely.

"What do you mean?" the District 11 boy asked.

"She means", said Panna, "that's it's very curious that we keep running into each other. Is this some kind of trick from the Gamemakers? Do they want us to align?"

The two girls stared Rey down for several minutes. Neither of them wanted to align with him, he was too unpredictable for that. Was there some trick involved here? Surely the Gamemakers could not have expected them to join up like this.

Finally, Rey put his hands in the air. "Hey, if you don't want to join with me, that's fine. Personally, I'd rather stay solo as well, but to each his own".

"That's exactly what we'd like" said Kidra coolly.

"I'm not even staying here" the District 11 boy said. "I'm going down to the summer island. After the night of winter, I want warmer climates, you know?"

The two girls could relate. They hadn't been to the winter island, but they had been thinking of going there. Maybe they'd be less likely to encounter Careers there. But, now that Rey was talking about it, it sure sounded like one brutal place to be.

"So...what's your plan?" he asked the girls.

"Like we'd tell you" Panna said.

"Fair enough" Rey said, crossing his arms. "If you don't mind, I'm going to be on my way now".

Kidra and Panna watched as Rey turned towards the island covered in palm trees and began walking through the brutally hot desert sand. If too many tributes stayed here for too long, the Games might end due to tributes dying of heat stroke before it ended with tributes actually killing each other, the kind of death the Capitol found the most satisfying. The Capitol wouldn't want to let that happen.

"What now?" Panna asked, once Rey was well out of earshot.

Kidra sat down behind a large saguaro cactus. "We wait".

* * *

As the pair of girls sat behind the cacti and bided their time, the Muscle Alliance had finally reached the summer island. For most people, it would have sounded like a very idyllic vacation spot, a place to go to in the summer when it was far too hot in the Capitol, a nice little forest retreat.

The forest, however, was extremely thick, to the point where many of the dark green spruce trees were brushing up against each other. Had trees been conscious of this, they would most likely be very uncomfortable.

 _That's a weird thought,_ Juliana said to herself. _I can't dwell on such things, not if I hope to win the Hunger Games._

Still, though, it was an interesting philosophical dilemma that she continued pondering as Bretson said, "All right! Let's carry this thing onto the beach!"

Juliana hopped out of the kayak. She was arrested by the cold temperature of the water, about fifteen degrees Celsius, or fifty-nine Fahrenheit. She recalled the equation, but didn't see why it mattered right then.

Carrying the kayak onto the beach, she noticed just how rocky it was. This didn't seem like a place anyone she knew would want to vacation. The beaches near District 11 were all sandy, not rocky like this.

"I'm not sure I like this place" Neo said. "I'm not used to all of these mosquitoes".

Indeed, Juliana could see clouds of the bugs floating in the air. It didn't seem likely that they were here by chance, the Gamemakers must be specifically targeting them.

"Should we explore?" the District 11 girl asked nonchalantly.

"I don't see why not" Bobbin replied.

"I'm cool with that" Bretson said.

The District 8 girl led the way out of the ocean and into the woods. Soon, it no longer reminded Bobbin, or anyone else, of summer.

Within twenty yards, they had practically lost sight of the ocean. They felt like they were constantly getting hemmed in by prickly spruce trees, not a comfortable feeling. Some of the trees were only four or five feet tall, while others were six or seven stories in height. It was highly variable and unpredictable.

Bobbin was used to swelteringly hot summers back in her district, which was a large, disgusting city stinking of refineries. This wasn't something that she looked back on fondly, but she didn't particularly like this place either. It felt like the trees were suffocating her. Why would the Gamemakers had thought of _this_ for the summer island?

"Do you hear anything?" Juliana asked the group.

The other three all trained their ears on the surrounded greenery. Eventually, Bretson felt that he had detected something.

"Maybe there's someone in there" the District 6 boy said.

There was the sound of a sword being unsheathed, then a boy came running at them. It was Lance, the guy from District 2.

"What are _you_ losers doing here?" someone said, although Lance's lips never moved. That's when the group realized that Lance wasn't the only Career present on the summer island.

"Let's get out of here!" Bretson yelled.

There were a few very confusing minutes, during which tributes from both the Muscle Alliance and the Career pack were sprinting through the thickets. Neo, who was at the very back of the Muscle Alliance, was able to see that it was Sei who had accompanied Lance to this island.

Really, he didn't care. The District 10 boy hated both of them, and he tried to draw his machete, but Sei was excellent at the art of dodging.

Finally, the District 1 boy stopped the District 2 boy. "I don't think that they're going to let us catch them" he said. "It's really no big deal. There will be plenty more chances".

"We keep squandering them, though" Lance replied. "How long until we admit that we suck as Careers?"

"We don't _suck_ at being Careers!" Sei retorted. "With that attitude, we'll never get anything done! Let's stay on this island and look for some more accessible targets".

Lance couldn't argue with that. The two Career boys turned around, swatting at the mosquitoes. They were just so annoying.

* * *

Bretson and his alliance didn't relax until they had gotten the kayak a hundred yards out to sea. He figured that it was now safe enough to talk to the others.

The island really looked pretty from this far out. It was only once you had actually seen it up close that you realized that it was an illusion, that it was so great. In reality, this was not someplace you wanted to stay for too long. Not only because it was the Hunger Games, but also because of all of the bugs the Gamemakers had put there, and also how sharp the spruce needles were. Neo had had to pick some out of his hand, and one of them was even bleeding slightly.

Juliana had apologized, saying that she didn't have any leaves on hand, but Bretson got the feeling that the District 10 boy would not have wanted the leaves to be used on him anyways. He found it pretty gross, and it was clear that he didn't approve of her nature healing.

Now, they were paddling quickly around the island, debating where they should go next.

"Should we do the spring island?" Juliana asked. Spring was her favorite time of year, living in District 11.

"I get the feeling that might be too predictable" Neo replied.

"What do you mean?" Bobbin asked.

"We should go to the winter island" Bretson said. "They'll never guess we're there. Besides, we're going in the right direction".

The group was heading back towards the fall island now, but there was still one major obstacle they would need to make their way through before they reached it, and that was the mangrove forest. Yesterday, it had been the site of an intense battle between District 2 and the Muscle Alliance. Now, they had no idea what they would be facing.

The Muscle Alliance, once they had paddled halfway around the autumn island, fell silent for a few moments. Out of nowhere, Bobbin asked the group, "Do you believe in God, guys?"

She hadn't expected the question to be taken too seriously. After all, they were in the Hunger Games right now. Surely the most important existential question of all time could wait; they needed to survive!

"I do" Bretson said. "My family's Catholic, as is my girlfriend. We used to watch the pope speak on TV when, you know..." he trailed off.

It was clear that he was going to say, _When the Capitol wasn't making us watch stuff like the Hunger Games._

"Me too" said Juliana. "A lot of people in District 11 are religious, including my family. We didn't practice as much as some people, just because of...everything. On Sunday mornings, they'd always make us work in the orchards. _Especially_ come harvest time".

"That's fair" said Neo. "And, to answer your question, Bobbin, I'm an atheist. I gave it a lot of thought and realized that, if there is a God, he's not worthy of my worship".

"What makes you say that?" Bobbin asked.

"Well, there's the mafia boss analogy. Just like a mafia boss, God can break my legs unless I give him what he wants, which is my devotion to Him. And yet, even when I couldn't bring myself to believe, He's still going to make me serve Him. Sorry, but I just can't worship that God".

"That's sad" the District 11 girl said. "Can I pray for you?"

"I appreciate it, but I don't think it'll do anything" Neo replied. "Besides, at a certain point, I'm just focused on taking care of my brother at home to care about some magic man in the sky".

"You have a brother?" Bobbin asked.

"I do" the District 10 boy replied. "His name is Tyler, and..." he trailed off.

How could Neo explain just how devoted he was to his younger brother? He didn't want to show any vulnerability in front of the others, didn't want to be seen as weak. Really, things weren't going to work in this alliance if he spilled everything.

"Let's just go, guys" Bretson said. "We can't count on God to get us out of this situation, we've got to use our arms, not just get down on our knees. If you'd like to survive the day, let's just keep on going. Winter island?"

"North we go" said Juliana. She could already feel herself starting to shiver at the thought of entering that snowy forest, but she wanted to go along with the rest of her alliance. She didn't see how they were going to last otherwise; they weren't going to be able to have a central base like the Careers did.

* * *

Scar had been dreading the job she had set out to do from the very beginning. However, she knew that she was going to have to do it. She hoped to find some tributes hiding in the swamp, and only that way would she be able to get closer to coming back home.

She supposed that the trees were pretty enough. The trunks were very thick, and they rose about twenty feet in the air into thickets of leaves that were shaped kind of like an egg, or that bean statue they had near District 6. The sun, however, was beating down, and sweat dripped down her face.

To make matters worse, she wasn't seeing anyone. She kept her short sword with her, wishing to be able to pick someone off. Of course, there probably wouldn't be anyone in here. Scar didn't care too much, now that she thought of it.

Reason being, this wasn't where she aimed to spend most of the day hunting. This was only a waystation on the way to the winter island. The woods reminded her of District 2 in the winter, and they got a lot of snow there, so she felt the most confident among any of them, except maybe Fennal, in going to the snowy forest. Plus, she was fairly fast and light on her feet. She knew she'd leave tracks, but how many?

Scar didn't want to wade in this dark, disgusting water any more. Using all of her arm strength, she managed to pull herself out of there and climb into the branches of one of the trees. She'd cross through the boughs in order to reach the proper ocean, and then she'd jump in and swim to the winter island.

Yes, there was nothing wrong with that plan. And, even though she wracked her brain trying to come up with it, she couldn't remember what exactly was wrong with the Careers' plan, either.

* * *

"We're entering the mangrove forest now" Bretson said.

It was unnecessary. The mangrove forest was one of the most recognizable parts of the arena for the Muscle Alliance, having already been there. Bretson's wound was pretty much all better by now, thanks to Juliana's healing. And this arena, as much as any of them might have wanted to deny it, was one of the most beautiful places any of them had ever been.

Neo and Bretson were once again manning the paddles, using swift, even strokes, pushing the water behind them as if they had been doing this their whole lives. The girls were sitting back, but they were unable to relax. That just went with the territory when you were in the Hunger Games.

The water was still the same color it had been yesterday, as the sun had risen to high noon now. How much longer would the day last? None of the Muscle Alliance knew, but it was clear that the Gamemakers were likely to keep making it hotter during the day and colder during the night, in order to test the tributes to the maximum. This happened a lot in past editions of the Hunger Games that the tributes had been forced to watch.

"So...winter island?" Bobbin whispered.

"That was the plan" Bretson replied. "Hold on, Neo. We've got to steer a little to the right. You're correcting a little too much to the left".

The District 10 boy gave a great sigh before turning his oar in a different direction, careful not to upset the precarious balance that was already present.

Just then, they heard the sound of more paddling.

"What was that?" Juliana blurted out. "The Careers?"

"Probably" Neo said. "Let's get the fuck out of here!"

Bretson turned around. There was another kayak perhaps three hundred yards behind them. Three figures were inside of it, and it seemed that the only explanation was that there was an alliance of three there...or three of the Careers.

The District 6 boy sighed. He was sick of dealing with Careers. They'd already encountered Lance and Sei on the summer island, and that had been more than enough for him. He wished that they wouldn't have to do this again; he didn't want to just keep running away whenever they found a place that they liked.

Nine hundred feet away, Jenny and Ebony were paddling the kayak, while Sam was eating a lunch of veggie bacon on bread, which they had found in the Cornucopia. The girls were fine with that, and they would share the food amongst themselves later, back at the Cornucopia. But the District 4 boy was always hungry, it seemed, so he'd brought a sandwich for the ride.

"There's a group of four up ahead! That's...who is it again?" Jenny asked.

Sam dropped his sandwich into the water, where it was quickly devoured by a pair of very hungry koi fish. He readied his sword, even though they were still over 800 feet away from the other kayak.

"The boy from 6, who's running the whole thing, the boy from 10, the girl from 8, and the girl from 11" said Ebony. She was also getting a few knives from her vest, preparing to begin throwing them at the other alliance.

"That's a lot of targets" Sam pointed out. "My spear's pretty much useless".

"We'll spear or knife them" his district partner said. "We're going to get at least one of them taken down, _no excuses._ Lance, Fennal, Sam, and Scar really aren't going to be too happy if we come back empty-handed".

The Careers were gaining on the Muscle Alliance, and all seven tributes present knew it. Bretson and Neo began paddling faster, but they soon got tangled in a series of trees.

"We've got to get out of here!" Bobbin cried.

"Relax" Neo said. "I got this".

The District 10 boy tried to push them out of the mangrove entanglement. "Duck!" he called.

The group ducked underneath the branches, and it took the boys the best part of two minutes to get them completely out of this mess. The whole time, they could see and hear that the Careers were closing in. In not too much longer, they would be sucked into another battle, much like the one yesterday.

"Duck!" Neo yelled again, but this time it was for a different reason.

Ebony had thrown one of her knives from their kayak, still fifty feet away. It nearly hit Juliana in the head, but they ducked quickly enough so that it scraped Neo in the shoulder, cutting open his tribute outfit. The material was torn, but it still stayed on his body.

"Are you okay, Neo?" Bobbin asked.

"I'll be fine" he said, gasping in pain. "Let's just get away!"

Handing his oar away to Juliana, Neo sat back, rubbing his injured shoulder. He knew that they'd need to get a sponsor, because the wound looked bad. Hopefully, that would happen as soon as they got out of here, preferably without any of them dying.

Bretson swung his hammer, but all he managed to do was nearly hit Bobbin in the head. It was difficult to swing a hammer while still paddling with the other arm, and he nearly tipped the balance of the kayak. Careful not to fall into the water, he put his hammer back in the canoe's cockpit.

"Should we continue chasing them?" Jenny asked. "They're going to get away. Plus, I don't see how much longer they can survive on the winter island".

"That's fair" said Sam. "Ebony? What do you think?"

"Let's go down to the summer island" she said. "I'm sure we're going to find some other tributes there".

"Okay" Jenny replied. "Let's go".

The Careers left, leaving the Muscle Alliance to breathe a collective sigh of relief. They were safe, at least for now.

"We've got to get something to treat that wound, Neo" Juliana said, once Sei, Ebony, and Jenny were out of earshot.

"Just use those leaves" the District 10 boy said weakly. Already, it seemed, it seemed that he was coming around to her way of seeing things, in terms of being more in favor of the nature healing.

"I can't" the District 11 girl replied. "It's too big. We'll need something from sponsors".

"Well, let's head to the winter island first" Bretson said. "Then, we'll do everything we can to get someone in the Capitol to notice us. I'm sure we're getting a lot of airtime right now, given that we seem to keep escaping from the Careers".

The others, including Neo, laughed a little at that.

* * *

Rey put his latest encounter with the girls out of his mind. He couldn't afford to let it distract him. Still, there was no denying that this had been a very eventful day. He'd had so many encounters with other tributes that he just wanted to get it out of his head and lose himself in the woods of the summer island.

It wasn't that it had been all bad, though. For one, he had been able to figure out who seemed to be aligned with whom in the arena.

The Career pack this year, Rey reflected as he swam through the chilly waves, seemed to consist of seven tributes. He'd been aware that the pairs from 1, 2, and 4 were, as usual, in the alliance, as was Fennal, the boy from District 7. Evidently he'd been arrogant enough, and so confident in his abilities, that he had decided to go the route of the Careers. Maybe one of his parents was a victor or something.

There was also the alliance of four, which was Bobbin, Bretson, Juliana, and Neo. Very often there was an alliance formed in order to try and counteract the Careers, and there was no telling just yet whether or not it was going to work. Right here and now, however, he couldn't help but get the feeling that he didn't want to be in an alliance like that. That would only bring more danger, something he wasn't keen on.

And then there were the two girls he seemed to continue running into, Panna and Kidra. Counting on his fingers, he realized that there were 14 tributes left, as 10 had died. He'd already counted off thirteen, meaning that he was the only tribute who was on his own.

Surely, the Gamemakers wouldn't find this setup, 7-4-2-1, exciting for too much longer. Rey feared that, as the only tribute left outside of an alliance, the Gamemakers would decide to turn on him eventually. The privileged men and women inside of the Capitol held so much of the power in the Hunger Games that it almost didn't matter what the tributes did sometimes.

 _Saint Veronika..._ wait, what? Why was Rey suddenly thinking of a Billy Talent song right now? He couldn't get that song out of his head, and yet he hadn't heard it in so long.

That wasn't true. It had been played at the ball, but that had been two days ago. This Hunger Games, even though it was only day 2, was starting to feel interminable to Rey. He just wanted it to be over, without him dying. Meaning that he had to win.

And then he realized why Saint Veronika was getting stuck in his head.

The song is based on a novel in which a young woman named Veronika tries to commit suicide, and Rey realized that, without realizing it, he'd done exactly that when he had volunteered for the Games. He'd gone the route of Veronika.

Just like his encounters with Kidra and Panna, however, he tried to put this realization out of his mind. Looking up at the island he was swimming to, he saw that it was covered in spruce trees, so thick that it looked as though they were cuddling with each other. They were that close together.

As Rey got out of the water, he looked behind him and was relieved to see that the Careers were not right on his tail. For this he was very grateful.

* * *

Scar had made it to the winter island. Looking at her surroundings, it was indeed similar to how District 2 was in the winter, except that the sky back home was not always purple. She knew that she had no time to waste if she wanted to hunt for tributes.

Thankful for her sword, she surveyed the nearby area, but didn't see any tributes. The only thing she did see were a few tracks left in the snow, but they didn't look like the tracks of another tribute. Instead, there might be a deer nearby.

Scar wasn't a fan of deer. She'd heard that they could transmit several diseases, including Lyme disease. And there were no antibiotics in the arena unless you got sponsored. And there were no sponsors unless you could make the crowd like you.

Turning to the invisible cameras she was sure were around her, she said, "Blakely, I'm still doing this for you".

Hopefully, her little sister was watching her say that. She was doing what she needed to so that she and her sister could have a better life back at home. That was all.

* * *

"Okay" Kidra said. "I think that now is as good a time as any".

"Why?" Panna asked back.

"There's nobody next to the Cornucopia" the District 5 girl pointed out. "We're not going to get attacked if we head in right now. I'm fairly certain of that".

The two girls stepped out from behind the cactus, which they had been careful not to touch. That would have been pretty painful. As it was, they were kneeling in hot desert sand, and Kidra could feel her knees start to burn. Not in terms of being on fire, they were just really hot. She wasn't enjoying herself by any means.

Panna was a little nervous. Although she and her ally had gotten better at swimming during the twenty-six hours or so that they had been in the arena, they still were not that confident in the water. And she knew that they'd have to learn fast if they hoped to reach the Cornucopia in time to grab some supplies before the Careers came back from hunting.

"At least they're not being successful at hunting" Panna said. "No cannons yet".

Indeed, there had been no cannons fired since the end of the Bloodbath yesterday. How long could this go on until the Capitol audience got bored of the lack of bloodshed? How long until the Gamemakers decided to break this alliance apart?

The District 3 girl tried to focus on other things. Right now, she and her ally were going to swim to the Cornucopia at the shortest point, which was roughly three hundred yards. As neither of them were that great at swimming, they wanted to get that part over with as quickly as possible. Once they had reached the other side, they would search through all of the backpacks of the Cornucopia for something they thought they could use.

"You ready?" Kidra asked Panna.

"I'm ready" the younger girl replied.

Both girls waded into the water and began swimming towards the Cornucopia. Just coming out of the desert, the water was tough to get used to. However, the two girls were able to get their act together as they swam to the island in the center of the arena.

"Let's do this" Panna said.


	15. Diamond On A Landmine

**All right. Here is another chapter, and look at that. We have another chapter title that is the same as the name of a Billy Talent song. I promise you, the next chapter won't have that. Probably. Maybe. I'm also at 600,000 words now, so there is that. I'm pretty proud to have hit this milestone. Just let me get to that 200 reviews, and everything will be wonderful, okay?**

 **Was in a bad mood, so decided to post this and get some feedback. Seriously. My April vacation ends up getting used up with therapy. It's just not my idea of a good time. Supposedly it'll help me in the long term, but I'm not convinced of that.**

 **At this point, I am nearly two chapters ahead.**

 _Answer: I read the story, "I'm Stuck In A House Full Of Girls!" by hellfire15. It's seriously one of my favorite fics ever. I had a little time away from fanfiction to read Veronika Decides To Die, a book that everyone aspiring to be a doctor should read. I know it's not a fanfiction, but I still feel like I should list it here, just because I have been reading it, and because it's such a great book. Like I said, the PDF form is bookmarked on my Mac._

 _Question: What is your favorite song or musical artist?_

* * *

The girls from Districts 3 and 5 were swimming as quickly as they could. Both of them knew that they wanted some extra supplies, more than they had had before. They'd given up everything for this, their sleeping bags, their food, everything.

The supplies at the Cornucopia were like diamonds on a landmine. They were highly tempting to be sure, but Panna and Kidra knew that the Careers could be back at any minute. It was vital that they were as quick as possible in retrieving what they wanted.

Both girls alighted, pulling themselves out of the water and onto the beach. Then, they looked at the light green grass and saw that they were unopposed in vying for supplies.

"Want to get a backpack each?" Panna asked cheerfully.

Kidra didn't see a reason to act so enthusiastic, but she said, "Sure. Let's each pick one that we think has some food inside, and maybe I'll get a weapon too".

Both girls were fairly tired; they weren't used to swimming such long distances. Kidra quickly jogged to a Sangria backpack (#AB010A) and donned a vest of knives. She kept looking around, as if she was expecting an attack. She had a knife at the ready, just in case.

Panna grabbed a Gamboge backpack (#E29B04) and looked around, hoping and praying that nobody was there to catch them. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

"Is that Lance and Sei?" she asked.

Looking out at the pair kayaking towards them, it was unmistakable. The two large frames could only belong to the boys from the two wealthiest districts of Panem. Lance and Sei were gunning for them, and they had to get away.

"Well, glad we got those supplies!" said Panna.

"Don't celebrate just yet" Kidra reprimanded her. "We've got to get out of here first".

Spotting a kayak tied to a nearby palm tree, which was just over the ocean, Kidra sprinted over there and began working the knots. Admittedly, she wasn't the best at knots, but she was still able to whip through them with ease, as though she was from District 4.

"Hurry, Kidra!" Panna cried.

"I'm doing my best" the older girl replied, panting.

On the other side of the island, Lance and Sei had just gotten their kayak to shore. They were leaving it there, since it would only hinder them in their attempts to make the first tribute kill since the Bloodbath yesterday.

"You take 5, I'll take 3!" said Sei.

"Why are you going to just bark out orders like that?" Lance asked, somewhat angrily. He didn't want Perseus Black to be the commander in chief of the Career pack.

Lance began bounding towards Kidra, but the District 5 girl was ready. She had just finished untying the canoe, and she held up her throwing knives to show that she wasn't going to be going down without a fight.

The District 2 boy retreated slightly, so that he was able to duck when Kidra heaved a knife at him. It hit Sei in the left leg, and blood started spurting out. The District 1 boy quickly pulled it out, but that only caused the blood flow to intensify.

"We've got to make a tactical retreat" said Lance. "It's just not worth it. We'll find some bandages".

"Good idea" Sei said weakly.

The two girls who were in an alliance together took that as a golden opportunity to push the canoe into the water. Looking threateningly at Lance, Kidra got in the boat, and the two girls started paddling. Before long, they were heading in the direction of the spring island once again, which they were going to go into by way of the swamp.

The two Career boys, on the other hand, sat back in the Cornucopia, with Sei nursing his wound. The blood flow had slowed, but it was important to not let infection get in, especially considering that these Hunger Games were far from over. They could give him very potent antibiotics in the Capitol, but here it was a matter of trying to keep the flies away.

Lance sifted through an Ultramarine backpack (hex color #23009C) until he found what he was looking for. "I'm just going to bandage your leg wound, and then we're going to wait here for the others. It's not worth going out like this".

 _When did you become so careful?_ Sei thought to Lance, as if the District 2 boy was capable of telepathy. Really, he wanted to be up and hunting, but that wasn't going to happen as long as Lance was here.

In the back of his mind, Sei wondered how long Lance was going to continue to be so protective like this. The Career pack never lasted forever, and their dissolutions were rarely amicable. The District 2 boy could just be putting on an act, trying to get the District 1 boy to feel safe among the other tributes in his alliance, before he was ultimately given a sword in the back. That strategy had been used before.

Sei knew, however, that his best chance at winning the Hunger Games was, at least for now, staying with his alliance. If he was alone, it would be harder for him to survive. Although, the question was, was a group of seven really sustainable when there were only fourteen people left in the Games?

Lance started bandaging Sei's wound, and the blood flow was beginning to stop. The light green grass was no longer getting stained red, so that was a plus.

"Are you feeling better?" Lance asked his ally.

"Pretty good" Sei replied.

* * *

Rey wasn't having a good time on the summer island.

It wasn't the way he had expected. He'd been sick of District 11, which was why he was in the Hunger Games in the first place. But this was far worse, and not just because of the fact that he might die at any moment. When you were in the Hunger Games, that just went with the territory.

No, Rey just hated the terrain on the summer island. The spruce forest was packed so tightly together that he could barely see anything. In order to minimize his contact with any disease-causing bugs, he lifted his feet high off of the ground with each step, but doing this led to him getting slightly irritated by the spruce trees. Really, it wasn't an ideal place to be.

Forcing his way through the thickets, he found a clearing with mossy logs and a small field. He was relieved at first, glad that there were no stupid spruce trees in here. And, most likely, none of the other tributes could see him here. He was safe, as safe as he could possibly be in the Hunger Games.

Rey couldn't stay in one place for long, however. He wanted to avoid that as much as possible, so he took a step forward.

Almost as soon as he had done that, it was as if he had stepped on a lever. Immediately, a crowd of bugs came crawling from underneath one of the logs. These things were each the size of a hot dog, and they were moving at a very fast rate.

"What the..." Rey began to say.

One of the bugs turned to face him, raising one of its pincers in a gesture that told Rey that he was lucky to still be alive, and the District 11 boy really thought it was about to pounce on him. However, that wasn't happening, thank goodness. Instead, the bugs just kept on moving, as if they were in a river.

Once the whole horde of them had passed, which must have been a good five minutes later, Rey took a deep breath. He wasn't afraid of bugs so much as he was afraid of that _quantity_ of bugs. Really, this was just something he'd have to get over. No doubt the Gamemakers would exploit this fear to the best of their ability, and Rey really didn't want that to happen.

He made his way to the coast, where he was able to catch a glimpse of a sight that made him very glad that he was safe on the summer island.

* * *

Panna and Kidra were paddling furiously. Even if the two Careers had been stopped by Kidra's knife, that meant nothing to the two girls. They were determined to get out of there at all costs. If, later, Sei died of blood loss or something like that, it couldn't be too soon.

Eventually, they fell into a slightly slower routine as they got closer to the spring island. Desperate to break the awkward silence, Panna spoke up first.

"Are we going back to the same greenhouse, Kidra?" she asked the older girl.

"I don't think we should" Kidra replied. "Aside from the fact that we wouldn't be able to find it again, that's probably a good thing. Wouldn't want the Careers to be led there, would you?"

"I suppose not" the younger girl said. "Especially given that all of our supplies would already be there".

* * *

Rey stood back from the headwall leading into the water. Had he been any closer to it, he would likely have fallen into the ocean, a good twenty feet below. It would have been a shock to his system for sure, and he had become used to the warm air again. Long story short, he would have been _very_ glad to be wearing a life jacket. That wouldn't have been quite as shocking, however, as what he had seen.

He was sick of seeing Panna and Kidra in the most seemingly random places. He had no idea what was going on, but he didn't like it. He supposed that the Gamemakers thought that this was making a compelling storyline, and that was, after all, what the audience wanted. However, this had been going on for far too long. Rey was getting very tired of this indeed.

He ran back into the greenery. He needed to escape from this perverted version of _Groundhog Day._ And the main character had only had to relive it every day. Rey kept seeing these girls every few hours; this was getting ridiculous.

 _I want to escape these girls. Fall island? I guess all the girls love Rey Genger, although I can't imagine why..._

Rey knew that this was most likely not the case, that there was some other reason they kept running into each other. However, he couldn't comprehend this right now, and he decided that he didn't want to. Right now, what mattered was getting out of here. He'd decided to go to the fall island, so that was what he was doing.

It was roughly another mile until he got to the coral reef. By this time, the sun was starting to sink a little bit, the way it usually did in late afternoon. Another few hours of this, and he'd have to start thinking about a place to bed down, if you could call it that when you had nothing to use as a bed. Clearly, nobody thought that he was worth sponsoring, because he'd received nothing in 29 hours of being in the Hunger Games.

Because it was getting late, the water was starting to cool down. He knew that this crossing would get a lot more difficult the longer he waited, so he jumped off the cliff, a drop of about ten feet from here. Thanks to the PFD he was wearing underneath the tribute outfit, he bobbed right to the surface and began swimming. The water was even colder than he had thought, but he was getting better at swimming the longer he was in the arena.

He paddled over to the coral reef, which he touched down on. For the most part, the water was about chest-high, but the reef was a large shelf, and beyond that the water went down he didn't know how far. Reaching out a hand to touch the coral, he found that it was rough and sharp, not like he had imagined it. It didn't burn, but it did irritate his fingers a little. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, to be sure.

Through all of this, Rey made sure that he always had the fall island in his sights. That was his goal, after all.

* * *

"I can't believe we didn't kill a single tribute" Ebony sighed, leaning back in her seat.

"I know" said Sam. "I'm sure that someone's going to die tomorrow".

None of them had any trouble believing that. Sooner or later, the Capitol was going to get bored after a day with no deaths. It was just a matter of time.

"Let's hope it's the boy from District 6" said Jenny. "He's a threat for sure".

Indeed, all of the Careers wanted to get rid of Bretson. He was the leader of the four-person alliance, after all, and it wouldn't do anybody any good to have him here much longer. They continued paddling until they saw the Cornucopia island within reach.

The light green grass had never looked so beautiful. The Careers just wanted a chance to regroup and get ready for tomorrow, which was going to be another big day of hunting. They'd lost so much time that it just made sense to go for broke tomorrow.

"Why are Sei and Lance already there?" Sam asked. "Shouldn't they still be out hunting?"

"Maybe there's some reason for that" said Jenny. "There's no way to tell from here".

The Careers alighted on the beach and began carrying the kayak back up to the Cornucopia. It was plain to see that Sei's left leg was bandaged.

"What happened?" Ebony asked.

"That girl from District 5 got me pretty good" her district partner replied. "I'm going to live, though. It wasn't that bad".

"He's fine, guys" Lance said. "We just took it easy for the rest of the day, and we're going to wait for Fennal and Scar to come back. How does that sound?"

The other three Careers present didn't have any problems with that. They all sat down to a dinner of dried pork on crackers, hoping that their remaining two allies came back that night.

* * *

The Muscle Alliance, through quite a bit of paddling, had managed to reach the winter island. There, they began shivering almost immediately.

"I don't like this place" said Juliana, who had her arms over her upper body, desperately trying to stay warm.

"I know" Neo said. "Me too".

Districts 10 and 11 were both located in southern Panem, so it made sense that, due to the warmer climates there, the tributes would struggle in the snowy environment. With Districts 6 and 8 getting far less snow, Bretson and Bobbin respectively were having slightly fewer problems. Even then, however, it was quite a shock to get from the warm mangrove forest to the snowy deciduous and evergreen forest.

In addition, the sun was setting, which was going to make it even colder. The alliance didn't have any sleeping bags, which meant that they had to hope they got sponsored. In addition, they were feeling hungry yet again. The only things that any of the tributes had from the Muscle Alliance were two weapons, Neo's machete and Bretson's warhammer. Obviously, those couldn't be eaten.

"What should we do for food?" Bobbin asked. The little girl from District 8 was the hungriest out of all of them, and the coldest due to being the smallest.

 _Is she a liability?_ Neo thought. _Should we get rid of her?_

No...that was stupid. There were still plenty of mutual threats, including but not limited to the Careers. Killing Bobbin would no doubt cause the entire alliance to rupture, and then he'd be on his own, surviving with just his machete, hoping that the other tributes were stupid enough to let him kill them. He couldn't take that risk.

* * *

"Finally! We're here" Kidra said, pumping her paddle into the air.

The two girls had made it to the spring island, and they needed to look for a place to sleep. Having already agreed that they wouldn't try to go and look for the same greenhouse, they would need to decide on somewhere else.

"Let's just hope that we don't find another crazy bee muttation" said Panna. "I'm not a big fan of bugs, whether they be insects or technical bugs".

"Bees aren't insects" said Kidra.

"Whatever" the District 3 girl replied. "Let's check what's in our bags".

Panna, as it turned out, had really hit the jackpot. Her bag contained a long length of rope, a first aid kit, and spaghetti and meatballs. "Yes!" she said, when she saw the weapon.

"What can you do with a rope in the Hunger Games?" asked Kidra skeptically.

"All sorts of things! Make a lasso, for one".

The District 5 girl did something that Panna had never heard her do. She laughed.

"A lasso! You're out of your mind".

"Hey, you can laugh, but my mother's a virtual cowgirl. She makes a living doing that".

"What's a virtual cowgirl supposed to be?" Kidra asked. "That makes no sense!"

"I don't know? said Panna. "Ask her. All I know is, she makes good money doing it. For every man she picks up at the bar, she gets-".

"So, basically, she makes money by playing video games" said Kidra. "I can't say that I approve of that, but to each her own. I mean, I..." she trailed off.

"What?" the District 3 girl asked the District 5 girl. "Why do you say that?"

"It's nothing" Kidra said, but Panna was insistent.

"Is it anything about your life story?" Panna asked Kidra.

"It is" Kidra replied. "Do you want to know? You might not like me afterwards".

"Sure" said Panna, as the girls continued down a lane with small gates with grapevines on the sides. It was quite beautiful if you didn't acknowledge the fact that this was a Hunger Games arena.

"Okay" the older girl said, taking a deep breath. "Both of my parents are dead, and so I left home, joined an urchin gang, and eventually became a prostitute. How's that?"

For a second, Panna looked as though she suspected Kidra of joking. However, she sat back and said, "I suppose that's pretty sad. Sorry".

"No, it's fine. It doesn't matter any more, now that we're both going to die".

"Don't say that! Be positive, you don't know that for sure".

"I'm just saying, statistically that's what usually happens".

Kidra had realized her mistake as she continued walking down the path with Panna. They knew that they'd need to find a place before dark, because it was dangerous to travel at night. You never knew what might come down at night.

* * *

At this point, Scar didn't care too much about her alliance. It was clear that they considered her a proper Career, but that wasn't what she was concerned about. As far as she was concerned, that was a done deal.

No, what she was worried about was how much longer the Career pack was going to last. After all, they were seven strong, half of the tributes that were left. It was clear that it wouldn't be too much longer until the Capitol decided that it was getting boring, and tried to drive a wedge between them.

Scar wasn't going to be at ground zero when that happened, no siree. She was going to stay on the winter island to see if she could net a kill or two. And, since she had brought a backpack with her (Kelly Green, #4AAC1B, hardtack and salt pork), she wasn't going to starve. Not likely. She was set up pretty well, at least for a while.

The fact was, she felt that she had to leave. Given the fact that she had her younger sister, Blakely, in the orphanage, and really did want to make her life better, besides come back alive herself, she had to take to heart the knowledge that the Hunger Games only ever had one winner. You could deny it as much as you wanted, but this was one unescapable truth.

As Scar trudged through the snow, looking at the purple sky above, she also paid attention to the horizon, for signs of other tributes, or tracks made in the snow. It came up no dice. Whoever had been here, if indeed anyone had been here, had been light enough on their feet to leave very little if any tracks.

"This is fun" she said to herself, quietly enough that no one outside of a ten-foot radius would be able to hear her. Scar continued to survey the area meticulously, hoping taht she'd be able to find something that would allow her to come one step closer to getting home to Blakely. One step closer to a better life.

Tonight, she decided, she'd be sleeping in the snow. Tomorrow, she'd make her way towards the swamp, where, once again, it would be time to hunt.

* * *

"Here's a nice shed" Panna said.

The two girls had discovered what appeared to be an old garden shed. Kudzu vines had partially consumed it, to the point that it looked like it was ensnared in a giant green net. Despite this, it looked pretty sturdy.

"I agree" Kidra replied. "It's probably a good idea to stay here tonight, don't you think?"

The District 3 girl nodded. "Let's see the anthem, and see if anyone died tonight".

"No one did" the District 5 girl reminded her. "No cannons, remember? If someone _had_ died, we'd know".

"Fair enough" Panna replied, sitting down beside the shed.

Kidra led the way into the garden shed, which was a single room that was about six feet by twelve feet. It didn't look terribly comfortable, but the ground was at least flat, and the Careers probably wouldn't think to look in here. Security was the top priority at this part of the Games.

Panna, however, couldn't stop herself from asking the one question that had been plaguing her since offering an alliance with the older girl. "When you told me that you wouldn't play by their rules, what did you mean by that?"

"Not now, okay?" Kidra said. "It's time to wait for the anthem, and then we'll get some rest. We both need it. And then, we'll head to the summer island. Let's not stay in one place too long, shall we?"

Panna agreed. And so, she and Kidra dug into some of her spaghetti and meatballs, wishing to continue their success at evading that had served them well thus far.

* * *

No deaths today.

Fennal had rejoined the Careers, and, as they watched the anthem, they commiserated over something that all of them knew to be true. They had not been successful in their efforts today. The District 7 boy hadn't even been able to catch Rey.

He supposed that part of the reason for this had been because of the fact that this arena was designed in a very circular manner. It was likely that tributes were moving around in one direction or another, and thus it would be hard to catch them. Even so, it was a little late to go hunting today, even though many of the other tributes would be settling in to sleep right about now.

"Are you feeling good about tomorrow, guys?" Lance asked the rest of the group.

It was clear that they were in dire straits right now. The only question was, could they turn their luck around?

"We're going to go all out, with or without Scar" Sei promised.

The District 2 girl had not rejoined the pack since she had set out to the winter island earlier that day. Nobody knew where she was, or why she had decided not to go back. They hadn't heard the cannon, and they hadn't seen her in the anthem. Therefore, she had to still be alive.

"If we find her, we'll kill her" Ebony asserted. Yes, it was an assertion, but it was a pretty fair one to make. After all, she was now a traitor, who indeed might now be sitting down and eating dinner with Bretson's group! That would not be something forgivable to the rest of the Career pack.

"I agree" Fennal replied. "But should we just get some sleep now? In the morning, we can return to our hunting with a vengeance".

* * *

Juliana knew that this was her chance. While the rest of her alliance was engrossed in the anthem, this was when she should leave. After all, there was only ever going to be one winner in the Games, and she needed to acknowledge that if she wanted to get home to Clive, and her grandmother, and her father, and Lucas...yes, she really wanted to get back home to those people.

She wasn't going to kill any of the other members of her alliance, though. The cannon would definitely alert Bretson or Neo, whichever one of those two she didn't kill. Neither of those was a particularly appealing scenario to end up in, so she might as well not even bother.

The District 11 girl, when the others weren't looking, turned tail and ran. She was light on her feet so as to leave as few tracks as possible, and she would get out of there easily. She didn't expect any of her now-former allies to pursue her. Why would they, when they were trying to sleep? It wouldn't make sense, not at all.

Juliana ran. She ran so far away. It wasn't until she reached the swamp that she looked up and realized that she wasn't alone.

Floating on his back in the warm water...was Rey Genger.


	16. Manly Fish

**Okay. Here's another chapter, in keeping with the schedule of one chapter every three days. It's a lot shorter than usual, but please don't lynch me for that. It does have some action, so it's not completely dull.**

 _Answer: I enjoy Coldplay, Fall Out Boy, Twenty One Pilots, Magic Man, Billy Talent, Little Mix, and several others. As for songs, one I've been listening to lately is "Diamond On A Landmine" by Billy Talent, which the last chapter was named after._

 _Question: What kind of Hunger Games arenas do you like?_

* * *

"Hey, Juliana" the District 11 boy said. His district partner was focused on her goal, which was the fall island.

"What are you doing here?" Juliana all but yelled. "Why are you in the mangrove forest?"

"Because I want to be" he said simply. "Plus, I don't think that they'll come looking for me here".

"You are delusional" his district partner said. "They come here every day. So far, we've seen them every day in this segment".

"Who is 'we'?" Rey asked.

"You already know the answer" Juliana said sternly. "My former alliance. Bretson, Bobbin, and Neo".

"You left them?"

"I did" she said. "Really, why are we having this conversation? It doesn't matter anymore. And you're about to kill me, right?"

"I don't have any weapons" Rey said. "Plus, I don't really want to kill you. There's just no reason to. The way it's going, the Careers are going to find you sooner or later".

Juliana was glad that her district partner seemed to be giving her a free pass. She didn't want to die this early in the Games. Of course, she didn't want to die _at all._ Especially not this early.

The District 11 girl turned away from her district partner and began swimming away through the mangrove forest. The water was surprisingly warm, as if someone had urinated in it. Most of the rest of the ocean was about fifteen degrees Celsius, but this was different.

 _I really hope that nobody peed in this water,_ she thought.

She supposed it didn't matter too much. Right now, she just wanted to get as far away from the other tributes as possible, particularly her former alliance. She really didn't want to run into anybody else for the rest of the Games, if she could have her way.

Of course, how often did that happen in the Hunger Games?

* * *

Bobbin woke up in the middle of the night. It wasn't just because of the fact that she was cold; they'd been sponsored sleeping bags in the middle of the night, but she noticed that one of them was empty. Last night, for whatever reason, they hadn't been paying attention.

"Wake up, guys!" she said.

Neo woke quickly, got to his feet, and brandished his machete. Bretson took a little longer to get up, but he looked at Bobbin with a nervous expression on his face. "What is it?" he asked sleepily.

"It looks like Juliana left" the District 8 girl said. "She's gone".

"What?" Bretson said, shocked. "Why would she do that?"

"Beats me" Bobbin said.

The alliance of three looked at each other. They hadn't thought that any of their allies were going to leave them. It was only the second night, after all, and they still had the Careers to worry about, against whom they were down 7-4.

"Did you hear something?" Neo said.

"Must've been the wind" Bretson replied.

"No, it sounded like...another tribute. Juliana?"

This encouraged Bobbin. Maybe their ally had just gone out hunting, or looking for food...although she didn't have a weapon, so she probably wasn't out hunting. Still, they wanted any possible evidence that she had not ditched them for good. Clearly, she hadn't been liking the way the alliance was going, and so she had decided to leave.

"I doubt it" the District 6 boy said. "Why would she leave without telling us, if only to come back later? No, it's someone else".

"Ha" said a sneering voice. All three tributes turned to look for the source.

Scar, the girl from District 2, was standing over them, brandishing a short sword. She was looking pretty dangerous, that was for sure.

"I'll hold her off!" Bretson said. "You guys just run".

Bobbin and Neo didn't need to be told twice. They began running in the opposite direction, far away from Scar.

"I'll get you, Scar!" the District 6 boy said, holding up his hammer. He was ready to drive it straight into her skull, and he swung, forcing the District 2 girl to duck. She came back at him with her sword, but Bretson was more nimble than his muscular frame would suggest. He was easily dodging her swings with the sword.

Scar knew that, although she was a trained Career, she was on the defensive in this fight. It wasn't a fight she was likely to win, that was for sure. Trying to find an opening, she decided that it wasn't worth it. Soon, she turned tail and ran, leaving Bretson standing alone in the snow.

"Okay" the District 6 boy said to himself, once Scar was gone. "Where are my allies?"

He set out in the opposite direction as Scar, looking. There weren't too many landmarks in these woods; there were a few cliffs, but there wasn't much else to go by. That was a big problem when you were looking for allies, but if you wanted to get lost in the woods, it was optimal. Right now, however, Bretson was cursing the Gamemakers. They were really making things frustrating for him.

The encounter with Scar had shaken him up more than he would have liked to admit. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any more Careers coming to the winter island for a while, but he couldn't count on it. No matter what, he and his allies would have to stay vigilant, especially now that they were one down.

* * *

Scar was pissed off.

She wished that she could have managed to take down at least one member of that alliance. She'd thought there were four of them, but it seemed that one had deserted the group. That was okay with her, since she didn't think she would have been able to take out all four of them. Not now that she was alone.

By which time it must have been five in the morning (she'd been traveling for that long, looking for more tributes, but there didn't seem to be any), she was starting to feel pretty tired. There was no such thing as coffee in the arena, at least not in the backpack she had taken. Although she might have missed it due to her mental state right now, it didn't seem likely that any cannons had gone off, meaning that nobody had died.

 _Not since the Bloodbath had there been a single fatality in the arena._

That was a key thing to remember. This meant that the Capitol would be looking for blood, desperate for some sort of action. Too long it had been, too much time had gone by without any deaths. The way it was going, the audience would be bored before long. The Head Gamemaker, Glacier Jackalburg, would likely lose his life after these Games.

Scar reached the end of the woods, noticing the swamp in front of her. She was really up with the roosters, with the first red streaks of sunrise lightening up the eastern sky. She wasn't keen on the idea of going in there again, but it was what she had to do. Maybe there would be tributes somewhere on the spring island.

Jumping into the water, she began swimming. It really helped to wake her up. Better than a cup of coffee. Especially when you were on the hunt. Always with her sword at the ready, Scar swam through the trees.

Eventually, she came to a sandbar. The newly risen sun did nothing to lighten the area, which was still dark. She could make out some kind of contraption...was it a broken radio?

Scar kicked it out of the way, when it said, " _I like big b-"_ before the sound ceased completely. Staying in one place for a minute or two, Scar made sure that the sound of the radio had not alerted anyone else to her presence here. Right now, it was just her and possibly other tributes. That was the key thing to remember.

Just then, something rose out of the water. It was about four feet tall, and it was a giant fish standing on its hind legs. At least, it looked like one...

"Halt! Who goes there?" it asked sternly.

"I'm just looking for tributes!" Scar said nervously. This was one of the biggest jump-scares she'd ever had. And she wasn't one to get scared easily. She'd always had to be strong, with both of her parents dead.

"Tributes? What are tributes?" asked the fish.

"I could ask the same of you" the District 2 girl said, standing her ground.

"I am a Manly Fish, and this is my brother" said the green fish.

A purple fish roughly the same size as the Manly Fish rose out of the water. This fish, however, was pointing its spear directly at Scar's heart, and it had far more malice in its eyes.

"I'm Manly Fish's Brother" said the purple fish. "I will destroy you!"

"Hang on" said Manly Fish. "Let's hear her out first. It may be, human, that we will not kill you. But you said you were a tribute. What's a tribute?"

"I'm a teenager-".

"What is a teenager?" asked Manly Fish's Brother.

"I'm between the ages of thirteen and-".

"That does not matter" said Manly Fish. "But what about being a tribute? That is not the same as being a teenager, I presume?"

"I'm in this arena, which is all around us. I'm here as part of a competition to kill other teenagers...".

"That is enough" said Manly Fish's Brother. "Brother, spear her".

"You do it" said Manly Fish.

"No! You don't understand! I'm just doing this for my sister...it's not evil...is that why you want to kill me?"

Those were her last words. Manly Fish's Brother heaved his spear into the air, made a rainbow-shaped arc, and stabbed Scar in the chest.

The District 2 girl, Scarlett Slate of the 65th Hunger Games, crumpled to the ground. As soon as her heart had been pierced, it had stopped beating. As soon as her heart had stopped beating, it was over. The fat lady was singing, and the cannon fired.

"That was an easy kill" Manly Fish's Brother said. "I wonder if the pair from yesterday calling themselves Sam and Jenny were also tributes".

"If we meet them again", Manly Fish said, "you have full authorization to kill them. Really, I'm sick of all of these humans".

* * *

The sound of the cannon woke Kidra. After all, she was a light sleeper, since she usually stayed far more sober than the men she was paid to sleep with. Really, it was no surprise.

Worried, Kidra looked over at her ally. Panna was just waking up, meaning that the cannon had not been either of them. It had been someone else.

"Who do you think that was?" Panna asked.

"No idea" said Kidra. "I'm hoping that it was one of the Careers, though. Wouldn't that be great?"

"The problem", said Panna, "is that, if the Careers have disbanded, would there not have been more than one death? And, if they haven't disbanded, who would have been able to kill one of them?"

"We'll find out tonight, I guess" the District 5 girl replied.

It was clear that neither of them were going to be able to get back to sleep. Not after something like that had just happened. The first death since the Bloodbath, and they'd have to wait until tonight to find out who it was.

"Want some breakfast?" the District 3 girl asked.

"I suppose I could do with that" Kidra replied.

They ended up looking inside Kidra's backpack for the first time. In it, they found six apples and a box of Froot Loops. There was no bowl or milk, so they were left to eat dry cereal with their hands.

"Let's have some Froot Loops" Panna said.

The girls began shoveling the rainbow-colored cereal into their mouths. They wanted to get up and moving, just in case the killer was near. That was the one important thing: Always keep moving, even when you didn't feel like it. You never knew when you might wish you had.

"Where are we going to go next?" asked the District 3 girl. "I mean, we're on the spring island now. There's a lot of different ways to go through here...do you want to go to the summer island again?"

"Sounds lovely" Kidra said. "I think that it'll be a good idea to hide as much as possible, in order to avoid getting killed. I think the summer island will provide the best opportunity to do that".

And so the plan had been set. After breakfast, from the spring island to the desert island. Then, to summer.

* * *

Juliana had just endured an exhausting night of swimming. Well, not _all_ night, but it had taken her a couple of hours to get through the mangrove forest. Swimming, at least for someone like her, was not nearly as fast as taking a kayak was.

She supposed she _could_ have gone to the Cornucopia island to find a kayak tied to a tree, but that wouldn't do, since the Careers were literally right there. No, she was going to have to do it this way.

Not that she minded. Swimming helped to invigorate her, make her feel more alive in an environment that ensured that she would likely _not_ be alive within another week or two. Really, that was all she cared about at this point. Forget her old alliance.

At what must have been well past midnight, she finally made it to the fall island. She barely had any time to celebrate, since she was so exhausted. It had been quite a night, and she was only hoping that none of her alliance came over.

She considered climbing into a tree and going to sleep there, but that wasn't going to work. She had no sleeping bag, and no means of tying it in to ensure she didn't fall. She'd just have to make things work on the ground. So, she rolled onto the ground and shivered away the night.

The cannon woke her up. Looking around, she realized that there was someone else near her.

"Rey?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

* * *

 **At this point, it's kind of a running joke that each chapter ends with a girl running into Rey. Anyway, enjoy the semi-cliffhanger, and wait three more days for the next chapter, per usual.**

 **SnowLucario out.**


	17. Two Become Three

**Big news: I got my braces off, so I now look older. At some point, I'm going to have to put a new photo on DeviantArt. Of course, I can barely speak now, so it's good that I can type this. On DeviantArt, I am putting a picture of my new Survivor: Game Changers merge buff, a beautiful yellow one.**

 **A much longer chapter than the last one, this is sure to entertain. I hope you enjoy.**

 **From here on out, I'm going to post one chapter a day until I have everything I've written. After that, I'll alternate chapters of this and Zoroark's Pendant, uploading them once they're done.**

 _Answer: I have a thing for water arenas, as I'm sure you can tell. I don't know why I find those more entertaining, to be honest. I just do, maybe because of the fact that I've grown up around water my whole life._

 _Question: What inspired you to write/get an account on this site?_

* * *

"I can't believe it's _you_ again" Juliana said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Really, this is getting pretty repetitive".

"Maybe I'm just a really hot guy", Rey said, "and that's why you've wanted to be near me this whole time. Hey, you never know".

"I don't find you attractive" his district partner said. "Truth be told, I find you downright _creepy._ There's no way in hell I'd ever join up with you".

"Have it your way" the District 11 boy said. "I'm just going to leave now. I'm heading somewhere else".

"Sure" Juliana said. She wasted no time in bolting in the direction of the summer island. That was her target.

Rey stood there for five minutes or so after his district partner had left. He hadn't had any plans to leave at first, but now that Juliana was bringing it up, he remembered that it was best to be on the move at all times. After all, a cannon had just sounded, and that meant there were only thirteen tributes left. It could have been a Career, but that would likely only have served to reinvigorate them.

He looked at the gorgeous trees around him. Every single shade of scarlet and gamboge you could think of was present within the sparse forest. He could imagine himself in the middle of the most beautiful autumn there had ever been in District 11, right here. Of course, you could never have that sort of comfort in the Hunger Games.

Rey knew that, if he didn't commit himself to doing this right now, he might never get it done. It really was best to just get it over with. Besides, he had a goal in mind. He was going to head back to the winter island in order to hide. It seemed like he'd been going in circles ever since the Games had begun, but that was just the reality of this arena. There weren't too many places to hide.

 _If that's the case,_ thought Rey, _why did it take so long to get here? With only eleven tributes dead?_

He supposed that there could be even fewer gone right now. Really, it was just because that ten had died in the initial Bloodbath that it was shocking that there were still thirteen left now. Thirteen tributes, still scattered around the arena somewhere. He had a pretty good idea of who was aligned with whom, but he didn't know for certain. You never could.

Jumping into the mangrove forest, Rey began swimming. It had become easier and easier for him. Swimming was just one of those things that was really best learned by practicing it yourself. You couldn't sit at a desk and learn it like so many other things in school. You actually had to _do_ it.

In a matter of about an hour, he had reached the winter island. Looking around, he saw that nobody was in the immediate vicinity. Good. He wanted to sneak in on whoever it was, to surprise them in order to catch them off guard. Of course, he didn't have a weapon, and he wasn't particularly strong, so it wasn't like he could actually _kill_ them, but he could definitely cause them some harm.

It was going to be tough to keep himself hidden in here, at least for a little while. Because the snow seemed to be perpetually falling on this island, the tracks would get covered before long, and then your path would be obscured. This was, of course, more than okay with Rey. He didn't particularly want to be noticed.

He trudged through the snow, hoping that he'd find food that some other tribute had dropped somewhere. That would help his cause quite a lot, and he'd be glad to have some more sustenance. Clearly, nobody had decided to sponsor him yet.

"We're one down" said a voice coming from ahead.

Rey could barely make out who it was, but it sounded kind of like someone he recognized. Granted, he'd seen all of the tributes in this arena before in the Capitol, but he was still surprised that someone was up at this hour. Then again, this was a case of the pot calling the kettle black, considering that Rey himself wasn't getting that much sleep in the arena.

"I know we're one down" said a harsher voice. "What are we going to do, make friends with the Careers? It's just not going to happen".

"Guys, please!" said a younger-sounding voice. This one was obviously female, which led Rey to a realization of who was talking. It was the alliance of Bretson, Bobbin, and Neo. This gave Rey a pretty good dilemma.

 _Should I reveal myself? Will Neo kill me?_

After a minute or so, the pressure became too much for Rey to bear. He daringly stepped out from behind a bush and said, "Hey, guys!"

Bobbin nearly fainted, but Bretson was able to catch her before she fell over. Clearly, they hadn't been expecting Rey to show up. Not here, not right now, maybe not ever.

"What's going on?" Neo asked.

"I'm just here. Can I join you guys?"

The boys from 10 and 6 got into what looked like a pretty heated argument, since they were still thirty yards away. It was clear that Neo was on the side of not letting him in, while Bretson was on the side of possibly letting him in. Who was going to win out?

Finally, Bretson stepped towards Rey. "You can join" he said. "Just try to not give us away. You think you're okay with that?"

"I am" said the District 11 boy.

"You're in" Neo said. It was clear that the District 10 boy wasn't happy with it, but that was what was going on. Rey was joining their alliance, whether Neo Falco liked it or not.

* * *

"I wonder who that cannon was" Lance said.

The Careers had all been woken up at what must have been five-thirty in the morning due to a cannon firing. Now, they were eating breakfast, pondering who it might have been to perform the kill, and who the victim might have been.

"Maybe Scar's doing her job" Jenny said. "You know that it'd help us to have less outer district tributes in here".

"Agreed" said Ebony.

"Or maybe it _was_ Scar" Sei said. "You never know. Even if she's gone, though, there are still six of us. We can make this work, guys. Let's get all the other tributes".

"Should we get an early start to the day?" Jenny asked. "I mean, earlier than usual?"

"Don't see why not" Fennal said. "I mean, they're all going to be out at a certain point. I think we should go together, though. That makes more sense than staying apart".

The others agreed. And so, the Careers had made the decision that, on the third day of the Hunger Games, they would hunt as one group. Either that would make it easier to kill the tributes they did find, or it would make it harder to find tributes. It could have both effects, and then the question was...was it really worth it?

"I think it is worth it" Sam said. "Let's go to the spring island by way of the swamp".

The Careers each took a backpack of supplies and began heading over to the swampy section of the water, eyes locked on the spring island.

* * *

Juliana had reached the ocean after an hour of walking. She was glad to be out of the woods, even though she was going to be heading into an even denser forest now. She could only hope that it would turn out to be safer than the fall island, just because the greenery was far more packed together, offering more concealment. That was, after all, what she was going for.

She supposed that it was a very beautiful morning. The sun was sparkling on the water, with pinpricks of yellow light that made Juliana feel lucky to be alive. Of course, everyone still in the arena was lucky to be alive, but that was beside the point.

Even if this was all a fantasy manufactured by the Gamemakers in order to fool the tributes, she didn't care. As far as Juliana Elle Skythorne was concerned, _let_ her be fooled by it. It was such a pleasant place to be right now, and she was used to the cold temperature of the water at this point; it now felt pleasantly cool, even after having just been on the two cooler main islands. She was enjoying herself swimming.

Even when her feet touched the coral, even though she lightly skinned her knee on one of the rock formations, she didn't care. Juliana wondered what her family, as well as Lucas Copperway, would think when they saw her swimming like this. If she got back home, _surely_ Lucas would want her then. She really could believe that. She could.

The summer island was within sight. She wanted to reach it at all costs, without getting discovered. Luckily, the Careers seemed to already have begun their morning hunt, as she couldn't see anyone on the Cornucopia island. And, as she began trying to touch her feet to the ground, in order to start wading onto the shore, it struck her just how small this arena was.

The islands were each only about three miles long, with the smaller ones only being about a mile wide or so. She supposed that a mile was a pretty long distance to swim, but something in these suits must have made it easier. She didn't know, and she didn't really care. As long as it made it easy enough to swim long distances without losing too much energy, that was good enough for Juliana.

Finally, she reached a point in the water that was shallow enough for her to stand. Looking around the rocky beach, she saw that there were no other tributes nearby, at least not within her field of vision. Therefore, she judged it to be safe to enter the evergreen forest, hoping that she had not made a horrible miscalculation.

* * *

"What's this?" Kidra asked.

She and Panna had just reached an open area on the spring island where there seemed to be a machine of some sort. The machine was about four feet long, two feet wide, and three feet high. A total of 24 cubic feet, not like that mattered.

This machine had three large buttons, one that was a pinkish red, one that was yellow, and one that was blue-green. Some kind of screen, with tons of small rectangles, was running. Panna did have an idea of what this was supposed to be, thanks to her experience in playing video games.

"Is this..the Puff Puff Machine?"

"What?" Kidra asked, not having any idea what her ally was talking about.

"It's from _Paper Mario 64..._ Bowser's army is using it to create tons of clouds in the sky, in order to slowly starve all of the flowers. Mario destroys it".

"Oh" the District 5 girl said, as if it made perfect sense now. She had no idea why a video game reference would be included in this arena, but it wasn't like it mattered too much. "Does that mean...".

"...that there will be a lot of clouds in the sky soon? Yes, I do believe so".

"Great" Kidra said. "I bet this is going to be fun".

"Look on the bright side" Panna said. "Without the sun, there won't be so many crazy plants here. At least, I hope not".

Clearly, the older girl was not satisfied with that, but Panna didn't care. Truth be told, she wanted to just head to the summer island. Once they were in the middle of that thick greenery, it would no longer matter that the sun was not out; instead, they'd be able to lose themselves in the forest. So far, the girls had been playing defensively, evading rather than attacking.

As for what would happen when evading was no longer enough...they didn't know.

* * *

The Careers, not for the first time, had reached the swamp. None of them were very keen on trudging through that deep, warm, dirty water again, but they knew they had to. This might be the last place people would expect the Careers to go looking.

Lance was leading the way, sword drawn in front of him. Fennal held his axe, standing in between both of the District 4 tributes with their spears. Behind him was Ebony, with her vest of knives. Sei brought up the rear, in order to have the two swordsmen of the Career pack be the bookends. With this, the Career pack was spread out like a cross, which they supposed was fitting. They were hoping to crucify some tributes, in a sense.

The swamp was as disgusting as ever, but the Careers were hoping that they might be able to find Scar in there somewhere. There, they could go after her for betraying them. After all, she really did deserve that. She deserved to die for her crimes.

"We're going to get her" Lance said, determined. Unless Scar had made that kill, the Career alliance was still 0 for 2 in terms of non-Bloodbath kills they had made and days, respectively.

The sun was beating down, and the temperatures must have been in the eighties, not a pleasant place to be. Vines hung from the trees, giving it the feeling of a rainforest from some kid's show. Of course, this was not nearly so innocent as that.

All of a sudden, a spear rose from within the water. It wasn't the same spears that the District 4 tributes were holding, those were being held steady by Jenny and Sam. No, _these_ spears were being held by someone else.

"Halt! Who goes there?" said a curt voice.

"I know what this is..." said Sam, groaning.

"What?" Ebony asked, sounding slightly frightened.

"The Manly Fish" said Jenny. "We ran into some on the first day. I guess they're still there...".

"That is correct" said a green fish that stepped out of the water, walking on its hind legs. "I will destroy you, just like my brother did that other human".

"What...human?" Lance asked. He was getting a bad feeling about this.

"Dark brown hair, 5'5", icy blue eyes, streaks of red in her hair?" said the fish.

"That was the one" said a second fish, which rose out of the water, identical to the other fish except that it was purple rather than green. "Yes, I destroyed her".

"Scar!" Sei exclaimed. "She's dead! That cannon this morning was _her_!"

"Evidently so" said the green fish. "I am a Manly Fish, and this is my brother".

"Hi, I'm Manly Fish's Brother" said Manly Fish's Brother. "What is this cannon you speak of?"

"When you killed Scar, it fired" said Jenny.

"Let me get this straight" said Manly Fish. "In this world, a cannon goes off whenever somebody dies?"

"That is correct" said Lance.

"I don't like cannons" said Manly Fish's Brother, frowning. "They're too loud".

"If you don't kill us", said Fennal, "there will be no more cannons. At least, not ones that you cause".

"Are you sure?" asked the green fish.

"Positive" said Ebony. "That's the way the Hunger Games work".

"Okay, then" said the purple fish. "Continue on your hunt for other teenagers".

"Are you sure? You're letting us go?" asked the District 1 girl.

"Yes, you may go. Just leave, before you come to regret staying. Continue on your quest".

The Careers didn't need to be told twice. They began trudging through the dirty water once again, looking for a good opening through which they could reach the spring island and, hopefully, other tributes.

* * *

Juliana had reached the summer island. That part was done with. Now, all she had to do was find a good place to stay.

She entered the greenery, swatting at mosquitoes. On summer nights back in District 11, the little bugs were downright plentiful. Here, they were far worse, even though it was daytime.

Although, now that she noticed it...there seemed to be some clouds near the eastern horizon. Dark ones. That was a little odd...but the Gamemakers would probably localize any rain that did come to the plants on the spring island, a place Juliana had no plans to venture to any time soon. This reassured her, but not that much. After all, Glacier Jackalburg could do _anything._

As Juliana made her way through the annoying branches that seemed to keep smacking her in the face, she felt like she heard something in front of her. It might have just been her imagination...

"Hey, it's really nice in here, isn't it?" said a female voice.

"Let's hide here. Someone's coming!" said an older, sterner female voice.

It struck Juliana who these girls were. Panna and Kidra were working together, and they had decided to hide on the summer island. Of course, given the small size of this arena, it wasn't like it would be a safe place for very long.

For a time, the District 11 girl weighed her options. She could openly reveal herself, possibly scaring the girls, or she could sneak up on them and try to...she didn't know if she was willing to kill. Was that really within her? To end someone's life like that?

No, it wasn't going to work. She couldn't bring herself to do it, since her life was not currently being threatened. However, there was also the reality that she didn't have a weapon, and was therefore going to have a tough time winning a fight against a tribute who did.

"Hello?" she decided to say.

That was a stupid idea. After all, she had no idea how far away Panna and Kidra were. They might not even have heard her, even though she had been able to hear them. Or, if they had heard her, they might go after her. There was really no way to tell.

Through the dense forest, she saw the gorgeous blond girl from District 5 emerge. That was Kidra.

"Hey, Juliana" Kidra said. "What are you doing here?"

"Ran away from my other alliance. The Muscle Alliance. How's it going here?"

In the midday clouds, the District 3 girl also emerged from the thickets. "We got some supplies from the Cornucopia yesterday. Since the Bloodbath, we've been living off the land. How about you guys?"

"It's been pretty much the same for the Muscle Alliance" said Juliana.

Kidra frowned. "Muscle Alliance?"

"It's the name Bobbin gave to us".

"Bobbin, the girl from District 8. The cannon wasn't her?" Panna asked.

"We're still trying to figure out who it was" said the District 11 girl. "Really, it could be anyone but her, Bretson, or Neo. It wasn't either of you, and I saw Rey earlier, so...it couldn't have been any of them".

"That leaves the Careers" said Kidra. "It had to be one of them. There's no other way anything makes sense".

By Kidra's logic, Juliana realized, it had to have been one of the Careers who had died this morning. Tonight, if they were still alive, they would find out which one of them had died.

"Do you want to join up with us?" Panna asked.

Kidra looked at the youngest girl. "Panna, she probably doesn't want an alliance-".

"Yes, I would" Juliana said. "I'm willing to join up with you guys. Will two become three?"

"I guess they will" said Kidra, shaking the District 11 girl's hand. "Kidra Silvery, and this is Panna Sonic. What's your full name again?"

"Juliana Elle Skythorne" Juliana said.

"All last names start with an S!" Panna exclaimed. "What do you want to call this alliance? The Girl Power Alliance?"

"Sounds perfect" Juliana said. "Tomorrow, let's get some weapons from the Cornucopia".

"No need" Kidra said. "I've got knives. Can you use those?"

"I can use knives" the District 11 girl replied.

"Okay. You're in".

And, just like that, Juliana had scored another alliance. She supposed she should be happy about that, but she kept having the feeling that a group of three was not what she wanted to be in. Then, however, she remembered that she wanted the protection that an alliance would offer, at least for now, when six of the Careers were still together.

* * *

A change had come over the arena as the sun would have reached its zenith. Emphasis should be placed on _would have._

Dark clouds had enveloped the sky, looking like something that would be seen in a very polluted city. Nobody knew exactly why they had come, but the arena was no longer as beautiful as it had been before.

"Do you think it's going to rain?" Fennal asked, as the Careers were exploring the spring island.

"I don't know" Jenny said. "If the Gamemakers want it to rain, it will rain. If they don't, it won't. That's how the Games generally work, I should think".

"I suppose you're right" the District 7 boy said.

If it rained, Jenny thought, the plants on the spring island would be likely to grow larger. There was no telling how much more menacing or dangerous they might become if that happened, so rain would not be optimal for the Careers.

As it was, the spring island was pretty enough. Flowers in colors such as Medium Violet Red, Dark Cyan, Nugget, Outrageous Orange, Cerulean, Metallic Gold, Cardinal, among others, dotted the ground and the walls. Golden daisies rose three feet into the air. There were lanes ambling this way and that, going who knew where among the island.

"I'm liking this place" said Sei.

"Stop and smell the roses, huh?" Ebony said, making fun of her district partner.

"Not in that sense. It's just...beautiful, isn't it?"

"It is" Lance said. "But that's not why we're here. We're on the hunt for tributes, so if you don't want to hunt with us, you can head back to the Cornucopia, or we can kill you right now if you like. The decision is yours".

"I want to stay with you guys" Sei said. "You need my help".

"Fine" Sam said. "Let's continue on".

The Careers passed another area. It looked like a forest of some description, except that the leaves weren't normal colors. They were brown, and blue, and orange, and purple, and were shaped like squiggly lines rather than the traditional shape of leaves.

"This reminds me of last year's arena" Ebony said. "There, we had all of those trees that had different colors for leaves. Here, it's the same thing".

"Kind of" said Jenny. "Those were all one color. This is really cool".

They continued walking, still in the same cross formation that they had been in when they were in the swamp. They were determined to find another tribute to kill, to make up for Scar dying earlier today. They were one down already.

"What's that buzzing sound?" Lance asked.

"No idea" said Sei. "You must be imagining things".

"I'm not, though" the District 2 boy said. "It sounds like a massive bee or something. Really, it does, guys".

"He's right", said Sam, "you _are_ imagining things. If you make it out of these Games, you should end up in a mental hospital or something, rather than a physical one".

"Very funny" Lance groaned.

Just then, a large shape emerged from the trees in front of them. It was a bee, the size of a pickup truck. Its stinger was about twice the length of a waffle cone you'd get at an ice cream parlor, and the bee's eyes were the size of dinner plates.

"Run?" Sam squeaked.

The other five Careers didn't need to be told twice. For all they knew, this bee's stings could cause instant death. They didn't want to lose another Career to a muttation, that was for sure. Hopefully, their sudden movement would not cause the bee to get scared and go after them.

* * *

"So...how have the last few days been for you guys?" Rey asked the Muscle Alliance.

"It's been okay" said Bretson. "We haven't had that much food, but it is nice having company in this arena. You know that it can be useful to have someone else to talk to. It helps me, at least, keep my sanity".

"Agreed" said Bobbin. "We're having an easier time surviving. Really, we're all in this together. All of us were reaped. I know you volunteered, but...".

"Now, I feel like a reaped tribute" said Rey. "Not too much better than if I had been, anyway. I'm starting to regret volunteering. I kind of just threw my life away, and I have only myself to blame".

"Why did you volunteer?" Neo asked.

"No real reason, I was just tired of District 11" he said.

"Can't say I wasn't tired of District 10" the boy from said district replied. "But I had a brother there, and I still have something to go back to. I'm not used to this arena, not by a long shot".

"I know" Bretson said. "Takes some time to get used to the snow. Bretson Muller, District 6, that's who I am. You're Rey Genger, right?"

"Yeah" Rey said.

For a while, the four tributes, the new incarnation of the Muscle Alliance, were sitting around, underneath the boughs, as the afternoon wore on. Really, the mood was melancholy, even though they had a new alliance member to replace the one they had just lost.

"So...you want to head back to the fall island?" Neo asked. "I like that better than this one".

"Let's wait until morning" said Rey. "I'm pretty tired from all that I've been doing today. If you guys want to head there, can we wait until tomorrow?"

"Of course we can" said Bretson. "Let's get some rest tonight. Hopefully, we get sponsored again".


	18. Girl Power

**Here we go! Since we will be reaching the anthem for Day 3 in this chapter, I'll just be putting the obituary up here. It's a pretty short chapter, but I wanted to end it on a specific note.**

 **RIP Scar.**

 **Scar: I think that she was a different type of Career. What I mean is, the Careers you usually read about, whether it be in SnowLucario Hunger Games, Hoprocker Hunger Games, or just plain Hunger Games, are arrogant teenagers who volunteer for glory for their district or themselves. Scar, however, just wanted a better life for herself and her sister. I suppose Elegance, and, to a lesser extent, Glory and Brett, were similar, but Scar just wanted a secure future for her and Blakely. Now, she'll never get that secure future. Normally, people would put something up there about getting to see her parents again, but I'm an atheist, so I don't believe in heaven. More like "AND I don't believe in heaven", because that's not a requirement for being an atheist, but does that really matter? In any case, I really enjoyed Scar, and will miss her.**

 **Speaking of which, you do realize that not all, indeed very few, atheists actually hold the position of Neo Falco on heaven? You'll see what it is a little down, but as a nonbeliever myself, I had to put this up here. I don't want this story to be seen as evangelism, when this is nothing of the sort.**

* * *

"Well, this kind of sucks" said Lance.

The truth of the matter was, they had just come back defeated. They had reached the Cornucopia island once again, and they had immediately gotten out a light dinner. None of them were able to eat very much, they were too beside themselves with frustration. They were too determined for food to matter.

"Let's see the anthem" said Jenny. "We can only hope that someone else got killed...".

But only Scar appeared in the sky that night. The Careers had lost one of their own, without taking any more lives in return. If it continued going like this, Bretson's alliance was going to control everything. The final four were all going to be from that group.

None of them wanted that to happen. As the sky got darker and darker, the Careers all bedded down inside their sleeping bags, hoping that things were going to be better in the morning. They had their work cut out for them, it was true, but few things worth doing are ever easy.

* * *

"It's sad that she had to die" Bretson said.

"What do you mean?" Rey asked. "She's one less tribute we have to worry about".

"Yeah, well, I still feel bad for all the Careers" Bobbin replied. "They've been brainwashed, indoctrinated into believing that they had to volunteer for the Hunger Games for their life to have any meaning. It's like sheep willingly going to the slaughter, except _knowingly_ as well. It's pretty awful when you think about it".

"I'm not going to disagree with you, Bobbin", Neo said, "but you've got to remember that we'd be doing the same thing if we had to. I'm not the kind of atheist to advocate for an amoral, godless universe, but this arena is definitely an example of that. Of _course_ killing is okay, because they'd do the same to us in a heartbeat. In a _heartbeat,_ guys".

This was scaring Bretson. Who was to say that the District 10 boy would not resort to killing, just in order to get home to his brother? There was no question that if he had to, he almost certainly would. That was the Neo they knew.

What he said next surprised them.

"If you believe in heaven, Bretson, why aren't you happy with Scar dying? She got to go to heaven sooner than the victor of these Games will".

"How could you say that, Neo?" Bretson asked.

"Because suicide is the logical conclusion of believing in a utopian afterlife" Rey replied. "At least, the way I see it".

"If you really think that", the District 6 boy said, "you don't know the first thing about Christianity. It's not about getting to heaven, it's about what you do here and now. At least, the type I was raised in. But why does the afterlife matter right now?"

"It doesn't" the District 11 boy admitted.

"Correct" Bretson replied. "Let's focus on what we _know_ is going on, and we can figure out the afterlife once we get there. Does that sound good?"

"Aye aye, mate" Bobbin said.

"Why are you acting like a pirate all of a sudden?" Neo asked. "This is the _Hunger Games?"_

"Why can't she have a little fun?" Bretson asked the District 10 boy.

Clearly, Neo could find nothing to say to that.

The group was, in general, happier once they saw the silver parachute descending from the sky.

* * *

"I can't sleep" Juliana told Panna.

"That's not my problem" Kidra said, who had been woken up. "If anything, blame the Gamemakers. They've really made this a brutal arena to sleep in".

Ever since the clouds had come up that afternoon, the sun had not been seen once. Now, the sun was well below the horizon, but it was still plain to see that the cloud cover was dark and grim, absolutely impenetrable. Absolutely no light had been leaking through the tops of the trees, and there was no way for the tributes to be able to see the sun even before the clouds and the night came.

"There's three of us now" Panna said. "We can take on these Games. Should we start hunting in the morning?"

"I really do think so" Kidra said. "It's not pleasant to think about, but we can't let these Games go on forever. It's already night 3, and there's only been one death since the Bloodbath. The Capitol is going to get bored fast".

"I suppose that you guys are right" Juliana said. "I'm going to try to get some more sleep. Would really help if you guys would let me have one of your sleeping bags".

Each of the other two girls were sleeping in her sleeping bag, but the newest member of the alliance got the short end of the stick. Neither Panna nor Kidra would give up their sleeping bag for Juliana, which she supposed was fair. After all, they had gotten them first.

Of course, it wasn't like there was any such thing as playing fair in the Hunger Games.

* * *

"What is this?" Neo asked.

None of them knew, except that one thing was clear: It was something good, because that was the nature of sponsor gifts in the Hunger Games. And it was a pretty large package, too.

"Probably sleeping bags" said Rey. "They know we need them".

Sure enough, as soon as Bretson had gotten up, shaking snow out of his hair, he said, "Yep! That's it! We've also got fruit, bread, cheese, and bacon, as well as four bottles of water".

"What district?" Bobbin asked.

"We've got twenty-four rolls, six each from Districts 6, 8, 10, and 11. I guess the sponsors approve of our alliance".

"I guess so" Rey said.

"Want to dig in?" asked Bretson.

"Sure" said Neo.

The Muscle Alliance started eating, looking forward to getting in their sleeping bags. With them, things would be a lot more cozy, and it would be far easier to get a good night's sleep. This was very, _very_ necessary in the Hunger Games

As Rey settled into his sleeping bag, part of his greasy hair touching the snowy ground, he couldn't help but feel pleased with his situation.

* * *

The following day dawned, except that the clouds were still in the sky. Even so, it was clear that it was daytime, since the sky was lighter than it had been before. Indeed, it was like a normal, cloudy day.

"Should we stay here today?" Fennal asked. "Sooner or later, the Gamemakers are _bound_ to manipulate them into coming here".

"That's probably true" said Ebony. "We should be ready for battle at any moment".

Sam, Sei, and Lance were all sitting on the beach, drinking from their canteens. They all had their weapons at the ready, just in case any other tributes were going to come. No matter what, the next few days were going to be very interesting. The Capitol was going to have to make it that way, in order to make up for how comparatively boring the first three days had been.

It was already day 4, and thirteen tributes were still alive. The Hunger Games weren't supposed to go that slowly.

* * *

The Muscle Alliance woke up the next morning and had some District 6 bread for breakfast, along with apples and oranges. They had to be careful with how much they were eating, because they didn't know how they were going to find food other than what they had already been sponsored.

"Where do you guys want to go today?" Bretson asked. "I'm kind of sick of the winter island".

"Me too" said Neo and Bobbin in unison.

"What's that?" Rey asked, seeing something in the sky. It seemed to be descending at a relatively gradual rate...as if it had a silver parachute attached to it. It was also pretty large.

"It's probably another kayak" Neo said, once it had reached the ground. "Hey, I was right!"

Sure enough, the Muscle Alliance had just been sponsored another kayak. It was definitely going to be useful for traveling from island to island, that was for sure.

"Let's go to the fall island" said Bobbin. "That sounds like a good place to head to, in order to maybe find some food. I don't know about you guys, but I have a bad feeling about that swamp".

"Trust me", Bretson said, "that feeling is mutual. I think we should leave this place, for sure. The only question is, what will we do once we get to the fall island? We can't just keep on moving around like this. At a certain point, we're going to have to fight back".

 _At a certain point, we're going to have to fight back._

Those words hung in the air ominously. It was hard for everyone to see how Bobbin would manage without a weapon, but there was no question that there would be fighting, and soon. It was just a matter of time, and that was just a matter of fact. As Bretson looked up at the snowy branches above them, he gained a greater clarity.

"Let's get out of here" he said.

* * *

"Do you want to go to the fall island?" asked Juliana.

The Girl Power Alliance had just endured a very buggy night on the summer island. Mosquitoes had been bothering them so much that all three girls had scratched themselves raw. To say the very least, it hadn't been fun.

"I say we do it" Panna replied. "It's not a very tough swim, and we can just walk across the coral. We are going to make this work. Somehow, everything is going to be all right".

Of course, that wasn't likely to be the case, and they all knew it. However, it wasn't as though any of the girls had any control over the fact that only one child was going to be the victor. That was just the way the Games ran.

"All right" said Kidra. "I think that it's time to go. We don't want to waste any time. The Careers could be right here".

The Girl Power alliance began walking over towards the ocean, reaching the water in only ten minutes. Then, they waded in until they were up to their knees, got on their bellies, and began swimming.

* * *

"Do you think we're going to be safe here?" Bobbin asked.

"I don't know" Rey said. "That's the truth".

The Muscle Alliance had just reached the fall island. Looking over at the woods in front of them, they realized that something was not right. There was more rustling in the piles of red, orange, and yellow leaves on the ground than would be expected if nobody was there.

Before anyone could say anything, in front of them was Panna, Kidra, and Juliana.


	19. Battle Of A Lifetime

**There is going to be a lot of action in this chapter, something I know you guys are going to enjoy. It's not my longest, not by a long shot, but it's a good one nonetheless, I should think.**

 **Sorry that I didn't put the Q & A at the top of the last chapter. I'll put it here instead.**

 _Answer: I read Curse Of The Lucario by Talkingbirdguy. That, and its sequel, might just be my very favorite stories on this site. They're under the Favorites section of my profile if you want to read them, although they have nothing to do with The Hunger Games._

 _Question: What would your strategy be in the Games?_

* * *

"Didn't expect to see you guys here!" Juliana exclaimed, looking over at her former allies.

There were two groups, one of four and one of three, staring down each other. The Muscle Alliance and the Girl Power alliance were both trained on each other, as if this was a reenactment of the Cold War. Would Bretson's silver hammer be the equivalent of the first nuclear weapon that would have set things off?

From their vantage point on the fall island, it was plain to see that the Careers were still at their Cornucopia island. It was crazy that they hadn't decided to go out and hunt today.

"I have an idea" Panna said.

"What's that?" Neo asked, pointing his machete at the District 3 girl. "If it involves us teaming up-".

"It _does_ , actually" Panna replied. "I propose that we form a temporary alliance of seven and go and attack the Careers' stronghold. After that, we can disband peacefully".

The seven tributes looked around at each other. Panna, Kidra, Bretson, Bobbin, Neo, Rey, and Juliana might be about to join up to start an attack on the Careers. Rarely had there been such an all-out war between half of the tributes and the other half of the tributes.

If the deal was accepted, this could very well be the finale of these Games.

"I think it's a good idea" Bretson said. "With the Careers in the Cornucopia, none of us have a chance. They've got so many supplies that it's just ridiculous. We need to drive them out somehow".

"And you think the best way to go about this is grouping up, the seven of us?" Juliana asked. "You're crazy!"

"Maybe I am. But they said the same about Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Who knows? This could be just like that".

"That's fair" said Neo. "Okay. I'm in. Are all in favor of Panna's plan?"

All seven of them raised their hands.

* * *

"I don't know why, but I kind of have a bad feeling about this" said Fennal.

"It's just your imagination" said Sei. "We've got everything here. Even if _all seven of them_ came and attacked us, we'd still be okay. We have the weapons, they don't. Just relax, it's going to work out".

"He's right" Ebony said. "Fennal, you're just being paranoid".

Maybe the District 7 boy _was_ being paranoid. However, Fennal knew that things had been going slowly for the last few days, and the Gamemakers would be eager to cause some more deaths. If these deaths were also from the Career pack, there wasn't much they could do about that. There was a possibility that the other players would be lured to the Cornucopia island, but that didn't make much sense when it was still only day 4. Surely the Gamemakers wouldn't want to end these Games _that_ quickly.

Of course, it was always possible that they did. Anything could happen in the Hunger Games. And yet, as Fennal looked up at the palm trees on the Cornucopia island, he got the feeling that not all six of the Careers would be finishing this day still alive.

* * *

The Muscle Alliance and the Girl Power Alliance had officially joined together to form one large alliance. Even if it was only temporary, this was going to have a big impact on the course of these Games. At least, that was the goal. It was always possible that they would fail, which would not be a good outcome. At this point, however, they were willing to do whatever it took in order to gain the upper hand.

"This could be the second Bloodbath" Bobbin said. It was hard to disagree with her. Essentially, this could have the same outcome that the Gamemakers sometimes created when they had feasts in other Hunger Games.

"Do you want to start swimming?" Bretson asked. "All of you guys have learned how, the last few days, right?"

"I'm not that confident in the water" Panna admitted. "Maybe I should have thought this plan through a little better".

"No, it's cool" Neo said. He sounded a lot more laid-back than he usually did, which took the others by surprise. Of course, this could be just because he knew that the best way to be serious in this situation was to be laid-back. This might help them more than being a drill sergeant ever could.

"All right, let's get in!" Bretson said enthusiastically. "I want to get this thing done!"

The newly formed alliance of seven all jumped into the water and began swimming as quickly as they could towards the Cornucopia island.

* * *

"Is someone coming towards us?" Lance asked.

"No, man, you're just imagining things" Sam replied. "Stop being so paranoid".

"No, Sam, Lance is right" Jenny said. "The seven of them are swimming right at us. We have to be ready to fend them off, or they're going to come and recapture the Cornucopia. Good thing that there aren't too many supplies left, or else we'd really be in trouble if they took control. This is going to be quite the battle".

"Everyone, mobilize!" Ebony called. She donned her vest of knives, while Sei and Lance picked up their swords, Sam and Jenny brandished their spears, and Fennal readied his axe. All of them wanted to kick the asses of some of these foolish outer-district tributes.

* * *

A few minutes later, the Muscle Alliance, as well as the Girl Power Alliance, reached the shore of the Cornucopia island. As soon as that had happened, it was on like Donkey Kong.

Kidra and Panna immediately started going against Ebony, which was a mistake. The District 1 girl aimed her knife at Kidra's skull, and so the District 5 girl was forced to steer the District 3 girl out of there. Really, this wasn't a battle worth fighting. Someone with a more powerful weapon would have to be the one to get the District 1 girl.

Lance and Sei were double-teaming Bretson, but the District 6 boy was putting up a pretty good fight. With his silver warhammer, Bretson could be very powerful indeed. He held it across his chest in order to parry their swords. Although he was barely able to put up a lot of offense, he swung it like a baseball bat in order to defend a knife from Ebony.

Meanwhile, Fennal was going after Bobbin. The District 8 girl had very little to defend herself, so she was simply running away, grabbing a backpack, with her hands in the air after she had strapped the thing onto her back.

Soon, however, Fennal fixed that with a throw of the axe to the head. Even though she was clearly dead, no cannon fired, just because the Gamemakers couldn't quite tell if the fighting had ended or not.

Bretson gave a great roar and ran towards the District 7 boy, swinging his hammer. Fennal was barely able to get down on the ground in order to dodge it, and he couldn't even grab a backpack on his way out. He simply ran to the ocean and began swimming towards the swamp.

But the battle wasn't over. Ebony had moved over to fighting Rey and Juliana, who were working together even though they didn't have the best relationship with each other. Rey didn't have any weapons, and neither did his district partner, meaning that they quickly realized that they had been foolish to engage her in battle.

It was like the Bloodbath all over again. All over the place, tributes were grabbing backpacks, trying to figure out what to do or who to align with. It was utter pandemonium, with all twelve of the remaining tributes participating in it.

Lance was fighting against Bretson once again, Sei having already run away with the tributes from District 4 in the direction of the mangrove forest, but it wasn't an easy battle for him to win. Sword against hammer was a more difficult matchup for the former than might be expected, as Lance was quickly learning.

Before long, Lance's sword broke. Cursing, he threw it at Bretson, but the District 6 boy was being very aggressive. Using the tip of his hammer to block it, he swung it like a club, which it essentially was.

The District 2 boy kept fighting, but Bretson took the opportunity to bring his hammer right down on Lance's head, cracking the Career's skull. Lance went down, and Bretson ran to see if he could join up with anyone.

"I'll come with you, Bretson!" Rey called at him.

"Great, let's get out of here!" the District 6 boy said, taking the District 11 boy's hand. Both of them began swimming in the direction of the desert island, away from the carnage that was taking place.

Panna looked over at Kidra, who had taken the opportunity to leave with Juliana. Her former ally had deserted her. She was having a hard time ignoring that.

However, the District 3 girl spent too much time worrying about that, because Ebony threw a knife straight into her brain. Panna crumpled to the ground, dead.

Just like that, the second Bloodbath was over, having only lasted for about five minutes. The cannons fired, three of them. In just a few minutes, they had gone from thirteen tributes still being alive to ten tributes still being alive. Those tributes that had not yet run away did so, leaving behind a pile of bodies to be collected by the hovercraft.

* * *

Bretson and Rey had gotten out of there with a Pumpkin backpack (#EE6E13). They hadn't yet seen what was in it, but they were getting close to reaching the island that was their goal, the desert island. Once they were there, they weren't sure what they would do, but here they'd likely be safe from what was left of the Career alliance.

"So there are three dead" Rey said, taking note of how many cannons had gone off. "Who is it?"

"Well", Bretson replied, "Bobbin's gone. I killed Lance, and there must have been someone else. That's what it sounds like, with three cannons having gone off".

"I hope the third one was one of the Careers" the District 11 boy replied.

The boys from 6 and 11 had just reached the island. It was more scorchingly hot than they remembered. It must have been 104 degrees Fahrenheit, or 40 degrees Celsius, at the very least, and both were dripping in sweat within a minute. They weren't having a good time.

"Let's head over to the summer island before we open these" said Bretson. "If we stop here, I don't know if I could keep going".

"Fair enough" said Rey. "It's just like the beginning of the Games all over again".

The District 6 boy laughed at that, after which they continued walking through the desert, with the ocean in sight.

* * *

"This is working out pretty well, isn't it?" Juliana said sarcastically.

She and Kidra had just reached the winter island, where they had decided to stick together until a few more tributes were gone. There had been three cannons, meaning that there were only ten tributes remaining. Juliana didn't know whether she should be relieved, because much of her competition was dead, or sad, because so many children were murdered by the Capitol. She supposed that she could be both.

"I d-don't know" Kidra said, shivering from the cold. "It never gets this cold in District 5. I'm sure the Gamemakers are increasing the temperature on the other islands, and then decreasing it for this one. That would only make sense, since they _are_ the Capitol.

"Suppose so" said the younger girl. "Let's go a little further up on this island. I don't know if anyone has ever explored it.

"I'm fine with that" the District 5 girl said. "I'm going to keep my knives, just in case we find something to hunt down. We don't have any food, and I wish that we would have been able to pick something up from the Cornucopia. Still, though, there's nothing we can do to change what we did in the past. For instance...".

"For instance, what?" Juliana asked the older girl.

"Never you mind" Kidra said. "The point is, we're here right now, and, at least for the moment, we are in control of our own destinies. That's something that you can't often say as a tribute in the Hunger Games".

"To be fair", said the District 11 girl, "you _could_ say it, it just wouldn't be true. You can always say whatever you want, it's just whether or not that thing is true that matters".

"Fair enough" said Kidra. "Let's continue up here and see what we can find in the way of food".

* * *

Neo had never liked Bobbin very much. Even so, he was very sorry to see her go. They hadn't seen her picture up yet, that wouldn't happen for quite a few more hours, but there was no question that she was dead. He had seen it with his own eyes.

For the most part, he hadn't been able to do very much. It was all he had been able to do in order to escape and head towards the swamp. Right now, he had one target in mind, and that was Fennal. Neo wasn't happy that the District 7 boy had joined up with the Careers to begin with, and now he had actually killed one of his allies. That was something that definitely went a long way towards pissing him off.

Now, he was trudging through the dark, dirty, disgusting water that was part of the swamp. He hoped that he wasn't going to encounter any mutts, but he knew that he would never get that lucky.

In front of him, he saw what looked like a huge, anthropomorphic green fish, carrying a spear. The District 10 boy brandished his machete, wishing to defend against this muttation, but it clearly was not planning to attack him. At least, that was what Neo could infer from the fact that it dove back down into the water almost as soon as he had seen it. Really, it was quite a sight.

 _I've got to get out of here,_ he thought. _But where can I go? The spring island is full of traps, and probably where everyone is right now, the winter island's too cold, the summer island's so far away, and the fall island...should I go there?_

He didn't think that would be a good idea. But he could hardly stay here; who knew what kinds of bugs and infections he might catch here, or what other mutts might be lying in wait? Although the Capitol would likely be satiated with the bloodshed that had just occurred, but anything was possible when you were four days into the Hunger Games. That was one thing it was important not to forget.

Ultimately, he decided on the spring island. Neo was okay with living dangerously, at least for now. He was trying not to take too many unnecessary risks, since he had a brother at home to come back to, but he saw this as a _necessary_ risk. In order to survive today, he was going to have to take this risk.

* * *

"I wish we brought the kayak" Sei said.

Sei, as well as the pair from District 4, had decided to swim to the fall island by way of the mangrove forest. Although the District 1 boy had been getting better at swimming since the very beginning of the Games, he couldn't say that he was better than Sam or Jenny. They were practically like _dolphins_ in comparison to Sei!

Of course, that wasn't the only thing that was bothering him. There were three Careers here, all together. How much longer could a group of three last when there were only ten tributes left in the arena? That was what he wanted to know.

Scratch that; he _didn't_ really want to know that. Sei was scared of the truth. He didn't know how long it would be until Sam and Jenny decided to turn on him. That was a terrifying thought, but he decided to turn it into something positive. Namely, a motivation to be vigilant at all times.

Those were his thoughts as he lagged behind the other two tributes with him in swimming through the mangroves. He desperately hoped that things were going to go in a different way than he was thinking, but he had a bad feeling about it.

* * *

Evening fell. Ebony was without a backpack or a sleeping bag, so she was left to watch the anthem before trying to find a place to sleep. It wasn't going to be easy to find such a place, but she could cope. After all, she was on the summer island, having finally made it there after going through the desert.

Lance was dead, and so were Panna and Bobbin. Really, she wasn't too surprised. She'd seen them die in the Bloodbath, but seeing them in the anthem was something else entirely. Looking up at the pine trees all around her, she thought of just how quickly things had picked up. Three tributes dead in one day.

And then she saw the silver parachute descending.

* * *

 **RIP Bobbin, Lance, and Panna**

 **Bobbin: She lasted longer than I think many of you expected. I kind of liked making her somewhat like Rue, a 12-year-old girl who nevertheless had a good amount of staying power. And stay she did, making it almost into the top half. She was naive and cute, but she was a good character to write. I am going to miss her for sure.**

 **Lance: He was described as a non-cocky Career. I don't know how well I wrote for that character description, but I did enjoy him. He was probably expected to last longer, but he at least did meet his end at the hands of Bretson Muller, like a lot of you wanted for him to. I do think that he was a more realistic character, who somewhat felt that he did need to volunteer in order to not disappoint his friends and family. And he lost his life because of that.**

 **Panna: She was my sister's tribute, and so she was never going to win. Even so, I really did enjoy writing her. Panna Sonic was literally created when my sister and I were sitting on our beds in a hotel room in New York City, and I asked her to give me characteristics of a District 3 female. She really did deliver, and we still don't know what a "virtual cowgirl" is supposed to be. Go figure!**


	20. Turn On Me

**Here comes yet another chapter! I hope you are enjoying the story thus far. I'm definitely MORE than halfway through it, but I don't know how much more. Probably a decent bit, just because there are only ten tributes left.**

 _Answer: I would just run so far away, like A Flock Of Seagulls. Hopefully I look good enough to be sponsored, but I'm not so sure about that._

 _Question: What are your favorite songs from the 1980s?_

* * *

What was in the package? That was what Ebony was wondering. More than likely, it'd be something that would help her to make it through the rest of the Games. It had only been three years since there had been a District 1 victor, but that was far too long. Really, she wanted to be the second one in four years.

Once the silver parachute landed, Ebony ran over to it. She took a deep breath before peering inside of it.

"Yes!" she mouthed.

In the package was a can of bug spray, ten more knives, a loaf of challah bread, and three apples. Clearly, someone was looking out for her.

It wasn't like Ebony cared about that part. For much of her life, she'd been living independently. She saw this as no different. Now, as a trained Career, all she needed to do was to survive the next nine deaths until she had that victor's crown on her head. It was easier said than done, but there was something that made Ebony excited about her prospects.

Clearly, someone in the Capitol was rooting for her. Really, how could they not? She _was_ a Career, and she knew how much the Capitol loved Careers, they were practically the Capitol's lapdogs. The last District 1 girl, Glory Asphodel, might have been a little too trusting of the arena she found herself in, but Ebony told herself that this was different. She wasn't naïve, just grateful that the Capitol was sponsoring her.

It was pretty great that she had the bug spray. Clearly, if she wanted to stay on the island, it would be better not to get eaten alive by mosquitoes. She didn't know if it would be 100% effective, but it was better than nothing.

She tried spraying it on herself. The smell lingered in the air for a few seconds, but she managed not to get any in her eyes. She lathered herself in it as much as possible, wishing to avoid as many bug bites as she could.

Also in the package was a black sleeping bag, a great color that could blend in during the night. She could play the Hunger Games with a greater level of stealth than she ever could when she was a member of the Career pack. Granted, that group had disbanded now, but even if she was with her stupid district partner, as well as the tributes from District 4, it wouldn't work out the way she wanted to.

 _I'm going to go after Fennal tomorrow,_ she thought.

Really, it made a lot of sense. The District 7 boy was the only other remaining Career who wasn't currently in an alliance. If she went after only Fennal, this would give her a better chance at victory. Ebony knew that they had both gotten the same score, a near-perfect ten, but she felt that knives were better than an axe. She could win these Games.

The only question left in her head, which was troubling her as she was trying to get to sleep, still swatting at mosquitoes, was how she was going to figure out where her former ally was.

* * *

Fennal had reached the spring island just before the anthem. He'd looked up to the sky and seen that Lance had died, meaning that the Careers were one down. It wasn't like it mattered any more, since the alliance was dead and gone even if five of its former members were still alive, but Panna and Bobbin were also now gone. This meant that Fennal had reached the final ten.

Reaching the final ten was a great milestone, but tenth place was no better than twenty-fourth. At the end of the day, the fear of death that Fennal always had, that was intrinsic in almost everybody, even if they wouldn't admit it. Knowing that this was likely the only life he had, he didn't want to lose it in this arena.

In the meantime, the District 7 boy was walking along lanes of flowers. He supposed that they were beautiful enough, although it was hard to see in the darkness of night. It wasn't something he would have seen in his home district, that was for sure.

As he walked, he took stock of who was left.

Sei, he could take one-on-one, but the problem was that he was still with District 4. It would be hard to get through them for sure, and his best option for trying to kill the District 1 boy would be to take him on without anyone else being nearby. Easier said than done.

Ebony should be his main target. She was on her own, and she'd gotten the same training score as he had. She was a big threat.

Sam and Jenny from District 4 weren't good targets, just because they were together, and two spears were going to beat one axe. That was just the way things worked.

Kidra would be tough, and she wasn't alone. He didn't think Juliana had a weapon, though, so he might be able to take the District 5 girl on.

Bretson would be suicide to take on. He had a warhammer, and it made Fennal think of a parody for "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". Maybe he could get a record label back in District 7 once he had won the Games, with his first single being "Bretson's Silver Hammer". It was entirely plausible, but he told himself to focus.

Neo was dangerous, as was Rey. No telling what those boys would be able to do.

As Fennal mulled over the list of potential targets, he decided to go after Ebony. He wasn't aware that the District 1 girl was also going after him, but he decided to find a greenhouse or someplace to sleep in. In the morning, that was when he'd begin the hunt.

* * *

 _"WHAT?"_

 _"I'm serious, Tyler, I don't know what to tell you...our parents..."._

 _"No!" Tyler cried, a veritable waterfall of tears coming out of his eyes. "They're gone, aren't they?"_

 _Neo didn't know what to say. Before today, everything had been so simple. They'd lived a normal life with their loving parents, and it had all been torn apart by just one slaughterhouse accident._

 _"We've got to pay the bills somehow" the older boy said. "I'm going to drop out of school tomorrow, tell the principal that. That's the only way"._

 _Neo's younger brother sighed, but that was the reality of the situation. In District 10, there was no life insurance. If your parents died when you were 15 and had a 12-year-old brother, you wouldn't be given any money in order to help start your own life. You had to do that all by yourself._

 _"It can't be" Tyler said. "You would do that?"_

 _"Ty, you're the love of my life. My biggest purpose is you, and you know that. Really, what's the point of going to school in this district? You know you're smarter than me"._

 _"Why does that matter? You're still my brother!"_

 _"Tyler, you could go to college, actually get a better job. Me, I'm just the one who's going to let that happen. I'll make sure you don't end up like me"._

 _"But I love you! How could I let you just drop out like that?"_

 _"Look, bro. If you love me, you'll understand and let me do this. Right now, the best thing you can do for me is let me do this. Don't you understand?"_

 _Sobbing, Tyler said, "I...do"._

 _With that, Neo went back to his room. He sat on his bed, putting his head in his hands. He was going to be making some sacrifices in life, that was for sure. Hopefully, it would turn out to all be worth it in the end._

* * *

Neo bolted awake. For a moment, he wasn't able to remember where he was. He could easily have been fifteen years old again, saddled with the responsibility of taking care of his younger brother.

Then, he remembered that he was in the Hunger Games, on an archipelago that was absolutely inaccessible to anyone other than them. There was probably a force field a good distance out to sea, but he didn't want to chance encountering it. The results would not be pleasant, that was for sure.

He was on the spring island. Looking around, he remembered that he had gone inside a greenhouse in order to sleep through the night. Now, it was morning again, and the sun was shining, illuminating the flowerbeds on the island.

Neo sat up, wishing that he'd been sponsored. His back was feeling sore from a night of no support. In addition, he could feel himself withering away from a lack of food. He was already thin to begin with, and he'd now lost a few more pounds. All of that moving around was taking its toll on his body.

And yet, if he wanted to last as long as possible, he was going to have to move around. He was going to have to show the Capitol that he wasn't this pushover who was going to waste the money of whoever was betting on him. No, Neo Falco was here to play.

He got to his feet, clutching his machete. If he ran into any other tributes, this was his only defense. He really wanted to make it out of this arena alive, and the machete might be a means to that end. As it was early morning, he could hear the chirping of birds, something that was rarely heard in the urban parts of District 10. Neo, in this one moment, felt lucky to be alive, as ironic as that might have been.

He walked along the avenue until he saw someone whose presence he hadn't counted on.

"It's _you"_ he said, staring daggers at Fennal.

"With skills like yours, you could have joined the Career pack" the District 7 boy retorted, brandishing his axe. He went out swinging.

Neo swung his machete, trying to keep the Career in enough pain to not attack him. He'd always known that he wasn't going to be the best in physical fights; he just wasn't that skilled. So far, though, Fennal was working up a sweat, and Neo was doing all right. Maybe he could win this.

Fennal gave a great roar and threw the axe into the air like a javelin. Neo ducked out of the way and picked up the axe. Unfortunately, Fennal was also fast, and he had grabbed onto the other end.

Both boys were playing tug-of-war for Fennal's axe. Eventually, the District 7 boy managed to reclaim it, going on the offensive again. Neo held his machete at the ready, parrying whenever necessary.

Eventually, he heard footsteps coming from behind. _Someone else?_ he thought. _This was just getting started, and now we need another tribute to add to the mix? That's just not fair!_

It was Ebony. The District 1 girl seemed to want in on the action, since she was holding her knives at the ready.

Neo halted for a second. Even though both of his opponents were Careers, they might not align with each other, or they might even fight each other rather than gang up on him. Even so, should they align, he was done. He wasn't going to win a fight against two trained Careers.

And so Neo decided to run. His destination was the summer island. He'd have to go through the desert on the way there, but it was going to be more than worth it to get away from the danger.

Ebony, on the other hand, wasn't done. Now that she was alone with Fennal in this area of the spring island, she was feeling far more confident in her ability to defeat her former ally. Whipping out a knife from her vest, she aimed it straight at Fennal's bran.

The District 7 boy, however, was very good at dodging, and he was able to duck to avoid the knife just in time. It was a good thing, too, because Fennal didn't want to die in the same way that Taysom had done last year. That would have been too sadly ironic of a way to go out.

"Why did you disband the Career alliance?" Fennal asked, trying to distract her. Keep the girl talking, she wouldn't be focused on trying to murder him.

" _I_ didn't disband it! It just happened!" Ebony all but screamed, leveling another knife to aim towards his chest. Of course, Fennal was too fast for her.

The District 7 boy went out swinging with his axe once again, but Glory was ready again. She held knifes in both hands, and was about to cut Fennal's head off when he kicked her in the legs.

Ebony fell to the ground, knocking the wind out of her. Getting back to her feet, she was able to fend off Fennal until she decided to run away. This wasn't worth it.

* * *

"Good morning" Sam said.

The group of Careers that was still together had just woken up on the fall island, and they were enjoying breakfast. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it was pretty good for the fifth day of the Hunger Games. Right now, they were doing pretty well, all things considered.

"So", Sei said in between bites of bagel, "who should we go after today? There are obviously quite a few less people; it's quite something to go straight from thirteen to ten like that".

"I say we break up Bretson and Rey" Jenny replied. "The District 6 boy is a threat. He formed that huge alliance on his own, even though two of them didn't last the first Bloodbath. We're going to have to get him".

"And I agree" said Sam. "Sei?"

"Yeah" the District 1 boy said. "They're at the top of our hit list, I should think. How long should we continue until we separate? Peacefully, of course?"

"I don't know" said Jenny. "Maybe once we've gotten Ebony out".

Sei nodded. That made sense. His district partner was a great threat, having scored a ten in training. It would make sense to make her a target.

After that, the group of three Careers set out for their daily hunt.

* * *

 **It's really short, and I'm sorry about that. Hopefully the daily updates are making up for this.**


	21. The Spring

**Another chapter, and this is where the daily uploads are going to stop. At this point, I'm working on my other story as well, and it seems highly unlikely that things are just going to keep up like this. I've been spoiling you guys for too long for it to be sustainable. I might be very passionate about writing, but even I can't do this all of the time.**

 _Answer: I like I Ran (So Far Away), We Built This City, and others._

 _Question: Who do you think will be the victor when all is said and done? I'm genuinely, genuinely curious. I already know who this is._

* * *

Bretson was glad that he and Rey had been sponsored food. They'd been given an entire 14-inch pizza with pepperoni, as well as two cans of root beer. It might not have been the healthiest food, but they hoped that they'd be able to survive the rest of the Games with this.

As Rey was tearing into a slice of his own, he asked, "So...how long do you think we are going to stay together?"

The truth was that Bretson hadn't been giving it much thought. He supposed that, since both of them couldn't win these Games, this was an important question to ask once you were at the final ten. _Would_ there be a good reason to split up soon? Was there _any_ good reason to stay together?

"I just don't know, Rey. I just don't know".

"Is it because of your district partner?" the District 11 boy asked.

"No, it's not. For the record, although Cassia was kind of like a sister to me, she's dead and gone now. It's been four days since the Bloodbath, and you kind of have to accept that". He was trying not to sob while saying this.

"Sorry" Rey replied.

"It's no problem. Just don't bring her up again. Right now, we have to focus on what's going on in the arena at this moment, you know? We've got to focus on what's near to us, what matters right now. I don't know if you believe in an afterlife, but this is all that matters right now".

"That's pretty much my opinion on it as well" said Rey. "I'll figure the afterlife out when I get there".

Both of them chuckled a little at that. They could have been just two ordinary teen boys, having a good time in the woods. Of course, this was far from an ordinary situation. There was a very good chance that neither of them would live to see the next few days.

"Do you want to head over to the fall island?" Bretson asked. "I don't like all of the bugs here. I'm worried that we might get malaria or something, since there's just so many mosquitoes".

"Really, that shouldn't be an issue" Rey said. "Would the Gamemakers want to kill us by disease? No, of course not. They always love watching us off each other" he said bitterly.

"I suppose that's true" the District 6 boy replied. "Let's get out of here, though. Even if malaria's not an issue, it'd be best to avoid the Careers".

* * *

Meanwhile, the group of Careers consisting of Jenny, Sam, and Sei were on their way back to the summer island. They were going to hunt there, but little did they know that they would run into two other tributes on the coral reef.

At the same time, Bretson and Rey were approaching from the side of the summer island closest to the coral reef. This wasn't a sight they liked to see, but they knew that they were going to have to deal with these Careers before they could go on.

"You take 11, I'll take 6!" said Sam enthusiastically, raising his spear. Like a fish, he began swimming close to Bretson.

The District 6 boy held up his hammer, ready to defend. He wasn't going down without a fight.

Sei raised his sword, moving towards Rey. The District 11 boy was weaponless and totally vulnerable. At the same time, he did have use of one weapon: his body. He body-checked the District 1 boy, knocking him back into the water and onto the coral reef.

One of Sei's legs was bleeding from getting cut on the sharp coral. This didn't faze him, however. He was still going at it, swinging his sword. Eventually, he struck gold.

Not much gold, though. All Sei had managed to do was to cause a tiny gash on Rey's forehead. It looked like he had received a Hindu blessing, it was that superficial of a wound. Rey was more mobilized to start fighting back, not that he hadn't been fighting before.

"Meet me at the fall island, Rey!" Bretson yelled. "I'll see you there, let me take care of these guys first!"

Bretson's silver hammer came down, but it didn't manage to hit any of the Careers. It was a very tense battle, and the District 6 boy was pondering means of escape. Of course, that might not be possible, but he didn't want to die without at least doing one thing towards trying to live.

Eventually, he managed to land a blow to Jenny, which knocked her off of her feet. The spear didn't go through her, and she didn't seem to be hurt that badly, but it was all it took for Bretson to get a head start.

He began bolting through the water. He wasn't the best swimmer, but he'd learned a lot during his time in the Hunger Games. All he wanted to do was to get out of there and join up with Rey again. He knew that this was going to work, somehow. He'd be able to get with Rey again, and then they would try to last the rest of the Games. That was the way things were going to have to go.

* * *

"Let's go exploring" Juliana said.

"Where?" Kidra asked. "It's freezing in here!"

"You never know" the District 11 girl said. "Maybe we can find some food out here, maybe not, but you'll never know unless you try".

"I suppose that's a good philosophy" the District 5 girl replied. "Yeah, let's go looking for something".

The girls started walking northwards through the snowy forest. Eventually, they came across an area with a grove of spruce trees, behind which a tower of steam was rising. The area gave off an aura of warmth that was almost unreal.

"Is that a hot spring?" asked Juliana, pulling back the curtain of spruce.

"Indeed, I think it is" Kidra replied.

In front of them stood a thermal pool, perhaps thirty feet wide and twenty feet deep. There was no telling how hot it was. It could be the temperature of bath water, a luxury neither of them had ever experienced more than once or twice in their lives, or the temperature of lava. It could be deeper than it looked.

"Let me test it" the District 11 girl said.

Before Kidra could stop her, Juliana was lowering her big toe into the pool. "It's very nice" she said. "Let's get in".

The District 5 girl was skeptical, but she watched as the younger girl lowered her body in. Since she was wearing waterproof clothes and a life jacket, she floated easily on the surface of the water, looking very comfortable.

"Aaahhh...that does it. Get in, Kidra".

"Okay" the older girl said, getting into the water slowly. At first, it was almost painful, but once she had gotten used to the water it did indeed feel relaxing. She tried to keep as much of her body above the water as possible so as not to get overheated. If she did, she'd be pretty useless hunting later.

For a few minutes, the girls just floated there, watching the snow fall and get sizzled in the hot water. Then, Kidra said, "How long are we going to stay together? There's only ten left".

Juliana had barely considered that question. "Well, you can leave right now, if you want. I'm not going to stop you".

"You know what? I think I will" the older girl replied. She got out of the water.

"You can't be serious. I'm really enjoying my time with you" Juliana replied.

"Well, you were the one to say it first. Besides, I'm getting sick of this. I'm getting out of here".

Before Juliana could say another word, Kidra was already running away into the woods, leaving the District 11 girl soaking in the hot springs.

* * *

The afternoon wore on. Fennal was getting sick of looking around for targets. He wanted them to come to _him._ He wanted to make some progress towards ending the Games.

At this point, if there had been any question about his willingness to kill, it was gone now. Fennal could become a ruthless killing machine, and he wouldn't care. He was in it to win it at this point, and so was everyone else. He was going to do whatever it took in order to get to continue his life.

As he walked along a dirt path, with flowers of various colors all around him, he pondered this. When would it be a good time to simply give up on the spring island? Would it _ever_ be a good idea to do that? The winter island was pretty brutal, for one.

Finding a chasm in the middle of the island, he saw that there was no path across it. He couldn't climb into it, it was much too far down (a distance of about fifty feet), nor would he have wanted to, thanks to what happened to be down there.

Spiked beetles, the size of dinner trays, were walking along the bottom of the pit. They were making _clickety-clack_ noises as they did so, like an old-fashioned typewriter. It was not a pretty sight by any means, and Fennal saw no way to continue without going down there and possibly getting killed.

There was no other option. He would need to retreat, but not to the Cornucopia. From this part of the island, he couldn't see what was going on there, but he could only assume that some of the other Careers had taken over the golden horn. If so, that meant going back was suicide.

* * *

Kidra didn't look back after abandoning Juliana. She was too focused on what she had to do now; find a source of food.

She didn't think ditching her ally was going to get her that many sponsors, but she didn't know what her looks might do. She smiled at the camera, even though she was feeling no joy, quite the opposite. She had a lot of dark thoughts in her mind, mainly of the future and the age-old question of what happened when you died.

Kidra didn't want to think that way. She would survive. She had to believe that, or she _wouldn't_ survive. It was just that. It was all about your will to live.

Okay, _some_ of it might have been due to your own actions. Still, will to live could play an important factor.

Which was why, when Kidra saw a fox next to another patch of spruce trees, she immediately heaved a knife at it. It was a clean kill, as she had been getting better and better at this skill over the last few days. She'd just gotten her dinner for the night.

Now, even though her life was far from secure, she knew that her food supply was going to be secure, at least for tonight. Maybe tomorrow things would change, but tonight she could relax.

She decided that she'd find a place to bed down here, covering herself in pine branches, before heading to the spring island in the morning. That would be a good place to go in order to get away from Juliana, assuming that the District 11 girl wouldn't gravitate towards that environment. Kidra could only hope that that wouldn't be the case.

If it was, an awkward confrontation was just around the corner.

* * *

The hours passed very slowly for Neo. He had finally reached the summer island, where he had immediately collapsed from exhaustion. Being in the desert for hours had made him very tired indeed. He'd fallen asleep right on the beach.

During the time he was unconscious, he had a bunch of dreams involving Tyler. The old flashback he'd had last night was coming back to haunt him now. He just wished that it would go away. He wasn't in the mood for sentimentality.

If he got home, and managed to win, things would be great. He might be able to go back to school if he wanted to, much like the victor from two years ago had done. Or, he could decide to say "fuck it" and decide that education was no longer relevant. And then he'd go full force in supporting his brother's schooling, except that this time he'd have a much easier time doing it.

Even so, the most important prize for winning the Hunger Games wasn't the immense salary that victors were paid. It was the opportunity to continue on living. Life was the greatest gift of all, and Neo only believed in this life. He wanted to make it count.

Once Neo woke up, he felt even more drained. He couldn't shake the feeling that this meant the end was near. No cannons had fired that he'd heard, but that didn't mean anything. It was entirely possible that he'd been too dead to the world to notice, and there might have only been nine tributes left in this world instead of ten.

Even with the way he felt, the District 10 boy began walking into the woods. He had no bug spray, and it was getting later in the afternoon by now. Soon, the mosquitoes would be coming out in full force, something that Neo wasn't looking forward to. He wished to find a solution to that problem before it got completely dark.

Out of the corner of his eye, he felt like he saw some shapes...two of them. They both seemed to be other people.

One was average height, but stocky and muscular. The other seemed to be skinnier, and also had longer hair. Was one of them Bretson?

"Hey, there's another tribute!" said the larger boy. That was unmistakably the voice of Neo's former ally. Which mean that the boy with him must have been Rey.

"It's Neo" Rey said. "What's he doing here?"

The District 10 boy saw no reason not to be open about where he was. "Yep, that's me. Neo Falco. Kill me if you want to".

"Why would we do that?" Bretson asked. "I'm not going to kill you. You can join us again. Three are better than two in this arena?"

"Really?" asked Neo.

"He's telling the truth" Rey replied. "I think you should join up with us again. Are you going to?"

Neo mulled it over a little. "I suppose that it would be a good idea".

"Great!" Bretson said. "In case you were wondering, we were going to go to the fall island, but we decided that this was better for concealment in the long run. That's the way we're playing, concealment above all else".

Neo nodded. After all, that had been what he was doing as well.

* * *

Ebony was on edge. She hadn't managed to score any kills all day, and it was now dusk. The anthem would be starting up any moment, and she hadn't heard any cannons. This meant that all ten tributes who had gone into this day as living children were still alive, and she was no closer to getting home. All she wanted was to win the Hunger Games; was that really this hard to pull off? She didn't see why it would be.

On top of everything else, she was now on the winter island. She'd gone all the way through the swamp for _this._ She wished that she would have been able to keep more of her body heat intact, but this was the way the Gamemakers had set this arena up. This was how the world ran, so to speak.

And, sure enough, the anthem revealed that there had been a grand total of zero deaths today. Ebony sighed before making a blanket out of pine branches with leaves attached, and she knew one thing.

Tomorrow was going to be chaos.


	22. Morning Six

_Answer: I clearly can't tell you guys, since this story is still going on!_

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 **As you can tell, the updates have now caught up with the story. There's nothing written after this, and I'm writing Zoroark's Pendant in tandem with this. If you like Pokémorph stories, you may enjoy that one as well. With that in mind, enjoy the chapter!**

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* * *

The tributes all settled in for the night, not knowing what awaited them in the morning. Since only three of them had food, many of them could feel their bodies withering away. This made it perhaps easier to sleep, just because they were so tired.

Well, there were really _four_ tributes with a source of food. Kidra had managed to bring down a fox, and she was eating from it. She was also able to use the fur coat as a blanket. It was kind of disgusting, but at this point she was willing to do _anything_ if it meant staying warm. It was that cold on the winter island.

She hated to play the Capitol's game, but she had underestimated the power of the fear of death. The most powerful weapon that the Gamemakers had in the arena was thanatophobia, the instinctive fear that all humans seemed to have of their own mortality. The Gamemakers sure were good at manipulating this.

In the morning, Kidra decided, she was going to have to head over to the spring island. Hopefully she would be better fed than any other tributes she might end up encountering there. She could have stayed here and looked for Juliana again, but there was no reason to think that she hadn't already left. The District 11 girl would have been a fool to stay there.

As the District 5 girl looked up at the dark sky, through the barely-visible leaves of the pine trees, she steeled herself for the following day, no doubt one that was going to be just as, if not more intense, than this one had been.

* * *

The three boys on the summer island had made camp. Even though Neo had agreed to join them, he didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about it. The District 10 boy, usually sullen and serious all of the time, was even more so. He kept looking around in circles, like he expected to be killed at any moment. Granted, this fear was not unfounded in the Hunger Games.

They had even been sponsored food, some lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and bread, in order to make sandwiches. Despite this, none of them had too much of an appetite. They were really far too concerned with everything that went on at this later stage of the Hunger Games. It was already the fifth night, and ten tributes still lived. Nine of them would not live to see September.

"This kind of sucks, doesn't it?" Rey said after a while. "I mean, there are a ton of mosquitoes here, and I'm getting eaten alive. Do you think we should leave here in the morning?"

"Sure" Bretson replied. "Spring island?"

Neo nodded, to show that he was okay with that. Really, anything was fine with him, even though he was a man of few words. Clearly, since they had been sponsored, the three boys from 6, 10, and 11 being in an alliance together was what the Capitol wanted to see. If Neo stayed in this alliance, he could play that up for the sponsors as long as possible, ride this alliance to the final five, maybe even the final three, although then he'd have to turn on the others.

Losing was not an option for Neo Falco. It just wasn't.

The way it was going, they were going to have to do something in order to win against the team of Careers that were still together, which consisted of Sam, Sei, and Jenny. In the morning, this was going to be easier to figure out. For now, the District 10 boy would just have to believe that this was true.

* * *

Ebony began the next morning in the swamp. She was traveling through it, with her goal being the Cornucopia island. This might be a good place to pick off a tribute or two who had decided to go on looking for food there, thinking that the tributes who were actually "playing the game" were going to be long gone from the area. That would be a foolish mistake, because there was always going to be her, Ebony Tartarus, waiting in the wings to take down one of them.

The water was as dark and murky as always, but her spirits were up. Estranged from the rest of the Careers, she found that it was easier to think clearly. She felt that she had a better chance at making the right decisions now. And the sky was absolutely gorgeous, too. It was the kind of sky that you only saw on the clearest summer day in District 1.

Eventually, Ebony saw something in the water up ahead. She continued walking, wondering what it was.

It sent out an aura of electricity, something that made her step back in sudden fear. It wasn't a way she wanted things to be, but it froze her in her tracks. She wanted to get out of the way, to make it to the Cornucopia island, but this thing was blocking her path.

"Uh...can I get out of the way?" she asked.

These weren't the Manly Fish mutts from earlier. These seemed to be some kind of eels, based on the look of them. Hopefully, they weren't hungry for some tasty tribute.

Eventually, Ebony decided to chance it. She went out sprinting through the swamp, and she didn't get electrocuted. Grateful that she had been so lucky, she continued in her efforts to get out of there. She wanted nothing more than to acquire some more supplies from the Cornucopia. If she didn't do that, she was going to be a goner. Not only did she not have any food left, but she was also running out of knives. There were only five remaining.

 _Well,_ she thought, _I guess it's going to be time to add to my supply_

* * *

Fennal didn't think that he was in much trouble. After all, he had an axe, and no doubt his good looks would entice some sponsors to come to the sponsorship offices in order to pay for some food for him. He figured that it was about time, and yet if it hadn't happened soon, it wasn't likely to ever happen. Sponsor gifts went up in price the longer the Games went on, so he wanted them to come to him quickly.

Still, though, he was feeling good about his chances of winning. As he searched for a path back to the ocean, in order to head to the Cornucopia, he saw a rustling in the bushes. It was midmorning by now, and the sun was high in the sky. Fennal was sweating, looking around. Was it an attacker? One of his former allies? Or was it a giant bee the size of a Humvee?

"I'll get you!" yelled a voice that he recognized as belonging to the girl from District 5. Kidra.

"Not before I get _you!_ " Fennal yelled, going after the blonde girl. He whipped out his axe and began swinging wildly.

Kidra pulled out some knives. "How _dare_ you join up with the Career alliance! You helped facilitate my ally's death!"

"Panna? That was your ally?" the District 7 boy asked desperately, trying to stall for time. He didn't think his axe would be able to win against her knives. Not that easily.

"Yes, I was aligned with her. And I've decided to take matters into my own hands. Fennal, the Capitol is evil. You _know_ that. And yet you'll never understand, because I'm about to kill you now".

She'd figured that, since there were still quite a few other tributes remaining, the part about the Capitol being evil would be edited out. That was what usually happened in the Hunger Games.

"I don't think you will" Fennal said. "I got a ten in training, you only got a six. What makes you think that I'm going to let _you_ win?"

"I never said you'd _let_ me" Kidra replied. "I said that I'm going to win, whether you let me or not. Fuck you for volunteering!"

Kidra heaved a knife at Fennal's heart, but he was able to deflect with his axe. The District 5 girl was able to dodge the knife, but she aimed another one for his brain.

Fennal was rolling on the ground, doing his best not to allow the blonde girl to kill him. It was clear that he was on the defensive now.

The District 5 girl stuck a knife through the side of the District 7 boy, piercing his heart. The cannon fired instantly, and Kidra stepped back.

She'd done it. She'd achieved her first kill. That was a pretty good place to start, but if she wanted to win the Hunger Games, she would have to continue doing things like this. If she didn't, it was likely that the Gamemakers were going to catch up with her somehow. The way things were going, Kidra was probably keeping them entertained. At the moment, that was all she really cared about.

* * *

"Let's do this" said Ebony.

She had reached the Cornucopia. Looking around at the backpacks, she realized that she had her pick of whatever she wanted. Nobody else was there to fight her for it. A nice change from what things had been like back when she was a part of the Career alliance.

Just then, just when she thought things couldn't get any better, she saw a shape on the beach opposite her. Trying to make it out, she realized that it was Sei. Her useless district partner. What score had he gotten? An eight? Absolutely pathetic.

"What is it, Sei? Can't you see I'm busy here?" she barked.

"I'm just here to hunt for some outer-district tributes" the District 1 boy said. "Same thing you're doing, I'm assuming. There was just a cannon. Who do you think it was? Another Career? Or Bretson? Who do you think it was?"

Ebony came up with a great smart-ass remark. "I know not who _that_ cannon was, but the next cannon is going to be you if you don't _leave me alone!_ "

Sei unsheathed his sword. Quickly, Ebony saw that this was going to be a fight to the death, or until someone fled. She knew she was going to fight until the bitter end, but the same could probably not be said about her district partner. Maybe she had the advantage here!

Ebony chucked a knife at Sei's head, but he dodged it. Swinging his sword like a baseball bat, he was able to make a small gash on his district partner's leg. It was a superficial wound, but it still caused great pain to her. She could barely keep herself from howling, it was that bad.

Even so, she didn't want to let Sei know that she was in pain. She didn't want to show her opponent any signs of her own vulnerability. She didn't want to encourage him.

Just then, Sam and Jenny came rushing towards the center of the island. Ebony's first thought was, _Oh, shit. He's got backup!_

Quickly, she grabbed a Reef (#CCFF99) backpack from the pile and began racing to the shore. Hopefully, the small amount of blood oozing from her leg would not be enough to attract sharks to her, or leave too much of a trail to follow.

She was heading for the summer island.

* * *

A cannon.

Bretson, Rey, and Neo now made up one-third of the remaining tributes in the arena. Only five days ago, that number would have been one-eighth. Now, however, the numbers were far dwindled, and all of them knew it.

The arena had become quite devoid of life. Even so, these three boys were still in it.

"Who do you think that cannon was?" Bretson asked.

"Dunno" Neo replied, talking for what seemed like the first time in forever. "It could have been anybody. I guess we'll find out tonight".

He didn't say, _If we're still alive,_ but everyone present knew that this was what he meant. Even someone like Neo, who was an expert at hiding his emotions, couldn't hide the fact that he was worried about the future. All of them were.

As the trio of boys trekked through the desert, they decided to talk about their experiences.

"So...any life stories you guys want to tell?" Rey asked. "I'm not really in the mood to".

"Okay..." Bretson said. "My dad's an interesting guy. He's a pro wrestler, and I'm actually a junior wrestling _champion._ That's how I got so buff, if that's what you guys were wondering".

"That's impressive" Rey said. "Why didn't you do that during the last battle, when it was the seven of us versus the Careers?"

Bretson snorted. "You know that one of the Careers would have, quite literally, stabbed me in the back. I didn't see that having a good outcome, no matter what I did, if I tried wrestling".

Coming out of his reverie, he said, "Okay, guys. Spring island?"

"I'm sure about that" Rey replied. "More sure about it than anything I've been during these Games".

"Sounds good, then" the District 6 boy replied. "Let's see how things go".

* * *

Ebony had not managed to come away with anything. Her wound was leaving a thin trail of blood in the ocean, but she didn't care. All she cared about was finding her way to the summer island. That was where she was going to resume her hunt.

Of course, it couldn't _always_ be that easy. There seemed to be a slight current going against her. Not only that, but she kept wondering who the cannon had belonged to. Nine other people it could have been...

She could assume that it probably wasn't Sam, Jenny, or Sei. That left six others, though. Could she eliminate any more? Could she eliminate all but one? She didn't think so.

In any case, it wasn't like it mattered. If the position of the sun was any indication, it had to be about midday by now. Chances were, she'd still be alive tonight, and she'd be able to see who was alive and who was not. She felt that she had the abilities to make it that far. After all, she _was_ a trained Career.

Ebony sighed before getting onto the beach. She knew that this was going to be an interesting endgame.


End file.
